Help--Power shuts off automatically

Question

I have a brand new Inspiron 5160 and have been experiencing problems with the power shutting off automatically and the screen turning black.  I know the computer is on b/c I can see the power light and hard drive lights on.  I can also hear the hard drive spinning.  I called Dell support but have not been able to help.    I have already reinstalled the OS and the drivers that comes with the pc but the problem still occurs.    Any help suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated.

andrewcubbie1 · Answer

Well how many time does it do this? Does it do it all the time, during some times, while running many programs at once? You may have to press Fn (Last row of keys, 2nd key) +F8 to refire the backlight. If this fails you may want to see if the connections are fully made with the screen, but this surpasses what I know about the dell screens, so if you still can't figure this out, get help with someone else, or get Dell Technical Support (May luck be with you if you choose to call)

dspman · Answer

Can you tell us more about the shut down  problem?  Is it intermittent?  Does it react to moving or touching the notebook?  Does it shut down with heavy CPU load, like gaming?  There are several threads about shutdown that may address your problem.

hola_amigos · Answer

It does happen intermittently. There is no definitive pattern in when this will happen. This laptop is right out of the box and just sits on a desk. It is not used for gaming and does not appear to be using a lot of cpu resources when I checked the task manager.

I called Dell support last week and they determined that it was a hard drive problem. I installed a new hard drive and all was ok for 3 days. Then it started again. I called Dell support again and now they are shipping me a new mother board and ram. It getting a bit annoying.

dspman--I checked several threads but did not see any topics pertaining this problem to this model. What search parameter did you use so I can search again?

I appreciate everyones help.

dspman · Answer

I was thinking of this thread for the 5150, which you probably have seen: http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_general&message.id=166703 . Your post attracted my attention due to similar behavior to the 5150 problem. Several of us on that thread have wondered if the problem occured on similar 51xx models.

Your problem is probably different, due to the newness of your 5160. Probably a defect in manufacture. Best thing to do is replace the motherboard as Dell suggests. Please forgive me if my response was a distraction.

Message Edited by dspman on 12-02-2004 07:37 AM

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Help--Power shuts off automatically

Was this post helpful?