# Toshiba laptop powers on, but turns off quickly



## detadam (Aug 15, 2008)

Hi, I recently bought a Toshiba a135-s4407 from another person and a day after I have received power issues. The first day I used the laptop I didn't see any problems with the power, but the second day problems started to occur. The first time I started to see something wrong was when I had the laptop on and it stopped charging the battery and went to ac power. Later I turned off the computer, but when I tried to turn it back on it would started and then immediately turn off. Now it will always show the light indicating that the laptop is connected to the adapter, but it will not stay on for more then a few seconds. Also when I plug in the adapter it will charge for a few seconds; the amount of time it charges depend on amount of time I left the adapter unplugged. The only things I can think that may affect the problem is I downgraded from Vista to XP, but I really think it is a hardware issue. Help would be greatly appreciated especially after reading my page-long explanation.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Any signs of overheating? Check your vents/heatsink if it is covered with dust. Also try replacing your RAM with a good/working module. 

Another thing that you can try is to go into BIOS settings (just let it stay there for some time) and see if it shuts down after some time in that mode. Or use a bootable CD. The plan is to see if it shuts OFF immediately.


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## detadam (Aug 15, 2008)

I was able to go into the bios for about 25-30 seconds and it then shut off, but it was powered on for a lot longer than just a normal boot. I was wondering why do you think the ram would affect the power of the laptop.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

A dead RAM would not let the laptop boot properly. It will power ON then shut OFF. So it could be a possibility. Best if you have a working spare just to test and know for sure.

You said you were able to go into BIOS settings but shut OFF after 30 secs. Check the vents if they are covered with dust. To be sure get an air compressor or a can of compressed air and blow some air thru the vents. Observe if dust comes out... continue until all if not most have been blown out.

Btw is your AC adapter and battery original/genuine and not generic? If you can, test these on another similar Toshiba laptop. Ruling these out would certainly help a lot.


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## detadam (Aug 15, 2008)

I actually bought an aftermarket ac adapter from Ebay, but I did try a Toshiba adapter from a repair shop and it worked the same. BTW the Volts are same on the laptop as the adapter which is 19v, but the amount of amps in the adapter is larger than the laptop. I asked the guy at the repair shop and he told me it would not be the cause of the problem.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Thank you for the information. If you have not tried it yet, try using AC adapter alone (remove the battery). Do the same using the battery without the AC adapter.

I hope you try the things I suggested. Do post back the results.


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## detadam (Aug 15, 2008)

I have tried only using the ac adapter and it did the same thing as if the battery was in the computer. There is not enough battery in the computer, but the laptop does recognize that the battery is low because it flashes a red light by the battery indicator. Also I really don't believe it is either the battery or adapter.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

If you think you can rule out the battery and AC adapter then I hope it is not one of the components inside the laptop that is shorting out. 

Any results on the RAM? Have you tried checking/cleaning the vents/heatsink?

Do post back if you already have the results for these two so we can move on to the motherboard.


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