having laptop problems

so i have a windows 7 vaio laptop, the model is SVE14D11U. The computer has been shutting down occasionally during use, but starting today it shuts down during the starting windows screen. When i try turning it on again it gives the option to repair startup or to start normally. if I select normally it shuts down during startup again. If I select repair startup it spends several minutes attempting to repair. after it finishes it gives the option to finish, which restarts the computer, once it reaches the starting windows screen it shuts down again. During one occasion the computer shut down during the repair startup process after that when i turned it on it gave the startup repair option again, but after a few minutes it said that windows couldn't solve the problem and gave the option to send an error report to microsoft. after sending the report it shut down. when i turned it on again i tried going into safe mode. in safe mode it does finish booting up. so i tried using the system restore option. this time windows was able to finish the startup repair again, but the problem of shutting down during startup persists. i can still use safe mode, but safe mode with networking does not work, only plain safe mode does.
can anyone help me solve this problem? thanks

Could be a hardware problem.
I had a PC once that kept hanging, but the mouse would still move.
It would do so when I hear this click sound coming from the PC.

Apparently, I came to the conclusion that the hard disk stops spinning or the head malfunctioned.

Either way, it was a hard disk problem and got replaced with a new one.

Well, my mom had a Vaio years ago, I think from 2007-2010; it would over-heat to a ridiculous degree. I think it eventually burnt itself out. I tried everything I could think of to get it working, but it turns out it was just a piece of crap. They over-heat. She eventually bought a Samsung lap-top and it's been working fine for 6 years, and it doesn't over-heat.

And Voros, that sounds like it was an issue with the PSU, not the processor. PSU's go pop, and give off a burnt smell when they completely fail, processor's don't usually do that. You might have had an over-powered GPU and processor, and the PSU couldn't handle it.

Noob: what's PSU?

Thanks: mystery solved. Would it have been replaced?
Plus, the processor was a pentium (2.30 ghz or something like that)
And the GPU, I don't know.

the computer is now booting correctly, i didnt do anything, it just corrected itself on it's own, however it still shuts down spontanously during use

Voros said:

Noob: what's PSU?

Power Supply Unit

Voros said:

There was a pop/exploding sound then a burnt smell...

This very same thing happened and killed off my Atari Jaguar. Oh woe, no more authentic JagDoom experience!

raymoohawk said:

the computer is now booting correctly, i didnt do anything, it just corrected itself on it's own, however it still shuts down spontanously during use

Do the fans spin really loudly? Because it may be overheating. All modern CPUs have emergency shut offs if they get too hot and throttling down does not fix the problem.

If pointing a large fan at the device to cool it down works, you should probably repaste the CPU and GPU (correctly). I would recommend that you use IC Diamond since it works rather nicely.

Other than that, it might be a short between some of the circuits. A short can be caused by a number of things. Just hope you do not eat over your laptop since crumbs can spill in, go through the keyboard, and attach themselves to the circuit board in most laptop designs.

BaronOfStuff said:

This very same thing happened and killed off my Atari Jaguar.

I wonder if this was just an isolated incident, or if everyone else had that problem... perhaps this was the reason the Jaguar failed?

Whatever the case, the fucking thing might as well be smashed up into 64 bits now.

raymoohawk said:

the computer is now booting correctly, i didnt do anything, it just corrected itself on it's own, however it still shuts down spontanously during use

That sounds like over-heating. There's really not much you can do about it with a lap-top. With a desktop computer you can install additional fans, or a liquid cooling system. Best bet would be to keep it in a cool area of the house, probably next to a window, and keep it out in the open, not in a desk or cabinet where it has no air-flow.

As I said before; from my experience with Vaio's, they're kind of crap. They overheat and break down after a few years. I would save up my money and buy/build a decent desktop.

If it's overheating you can spray compressed air in the exhaust vents. If that doesn't work then get the service manual, take heatsink off, spray all the dust out of it and everywhere else in the laptop, clean the thermal compound and re-apply. If you aren't comfortable with it then consider taking it into a shop.

thanks for the replies :)

the laptop does get really hot, to the point where it occasionally hurts to touch the side the fan is on. however it doesnt always shut down when it is hot, sometimes it is quite cool and still shuts off. the fan makes an intense noise when i have been using a program like photoshop for long, but again this doesnt always lead to a shutdown. i dont know if this is normal but when the computer is off it occasionally makes a creacking sound

i think i'll try sys's suggestion for now, since i dont think i can get a new computer any time soon

Jello said:

There's really not much you can do about it with a lap-top.

Depends on the placement of the hot components, fans, and any heatsinks in the laptop. Although badly designed laptops will overheat regardless if you have the best heatsink compound in there.

Also laptops are not usually made for laps and can get quite roasty.

raymoohawk said:

the laptop does get really hot, to the point where it occasionally hurts to touch the side the fan is on. however it doesnt always shut down when it is hot, sometimes it is quite cool and still shuts off. the fan makes an intense noise when i have been using a program like photoshop for long, but again this doesnt always lead to a shutdown. i dont know if this is normal but when the computer is off it occasionally makes a creacking sound

It is possible that you just need to clean out the fans, oil the fans, and just apply fresh thermal paste.

As for the sound, does it occur when the battery is unplugged and there is no power going to the device?

GhostlyDeath said:

As for the sound, does it occur when the battery is unplugged and there is no power going to the device?

i'm pretty sure it happens even when unplugged, tho i do forget to unplug it frequently