# [SOLVED] Acer Aspire 5100 shutting down



## drew555 (Jul 25, 2008)

Hi folks.

First post, and it's begging for help (I bet you get that a lot huh?).

Here's the thing...

I've been lumbered with the job of repairing a friends Acer Aspire 5100 laptop.

It came to me in a boot loop - which I fixed with a new HDD (woo go me!).

Now I'm trying to reinstall the operating system (XP) and it keeps shutting down - usually a couple of minutes in, using either the XP setup disk, a MiniPE environment or just standing with the BIOS screens displayed.

I spoke to the owner, who said that yes, this was something that she was having problems with before the boot loop came up (don'tcha just love customers that tell you exactly what you're dealing with before you start?).

I've re-seated the RAM (in case it had worked loose), cleared the CMOS (in case something daft had happened in there) and it doesn't appear to be heat related (it's not hot when it shuts down, based on feeling the case etc. and having attempted to resolve the situation without the back panel on - the BIOS makes no provision for temperature monitoring).

I assume that it's not the battery, because it does it on AC or battery power, and whether the battery is connected or not - I also assume that it's unrelated to the power jack as I have tried it with and without AC power.

Bear in mind, that I can't get into Windows because it won't stay on long enough to install.

I'm starting to get a little bit exasperated.... and I need to fix it because the owner has already laid out £30 on a HDD and I'll feel a right melon if I can't get this resolved.

Pleeeeeease........ anyone know what the hell is wrong with this machine? :sigh: 

Many, many thanks for reading this post, and more thanks in advance for anyone who can shed light in this problem.


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## V0lt (Sep 14, 2002)

*Re: Acer Aspire 5100 shutting down*

How are the temps on this machine? I have an aspire myself and it puts out a tremendous amount of heat, especially when it still hasn't started its fan up (sunon fans they have with the maglev bearings are prone to failure). 

You probably won't be able to check the temps in BIOS, but is it really hot to the touch when it shuts down?


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## drew555 (Jul 25, 2008)

*Re: Acer Aspire 5100 shutting down*

Wow! Thanks for the fast reply!

This is where it gets all intermittent.

I read your post... and to make sure I was quoting properly, I fired up the Laptop with the MiniPE disk in.

And it ran fine. For the longest yet.

I surfed the web and all sorts.

So I thought I'd try my luck with XP setup disk... and 2 mins in it shuts down.

And in response to the heat question, warm to the touch is a better explanation. And the fan is spinning like something possessed.


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## V0lt (Sep 14, 2002)

*Re: Acer Aspire 5100 shutting down*

Hmm... could be that all the disk churning makes more heat?

When mine gets hot, it gets _hot_, so I don't know if I can say for sure that it's the heat doing this. If you haven't already, you could try putting it on a countertop or any place with no obstructions on the bottom with a clear path for the heat to escape. I kept mine on all the time on my desk, and because it wasn't well ventilated it was always hotter than hell, and this eventually led to my fan failing.


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## drew555 (Jul 25, 2008)

*Re: Acer Aspire 5100 shutting down*

I tried all of that, lol.

I just had the fan off... could half a dog between the fan and cooling fins have caused that kind of heat build up that quickly?

I just excavated most of a yorkshire terrier from there and have set it to reinstall... so far so good......

I'll keep you up to date.


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## drew555 (Jul 25, 2008)

*Re: Acer Aspire 5100 shutting down*

Woo-ha it was the dog.

The Aspire is sitting here behaving itself like a new machine, contentedly downloading it's drivers.

Many many thanks for your patience and input Fox, it's most appreciated.

I had no idea that a CPU got that hot that fast. Amazing.

*edit* Can someone please put "SOLVED" in the thread title? I can't edit it


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## V0lt (Sep 14, 2002)

*Re: Acer Aspire 5100 shutting down*

No problem  I should have suggested checking it for blockages in the first place. Glad you got it sorted!

I'll mark the thread as solved for you.


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## dockeryz (Sep 8, 2008)

sorry for posting in a solved thread, but I have to clarify myself on this matter.

I'm having the same exact problem. I was all in understanding with you until you mentioned "half a dog" being in the way...... ***?

As of right now I'm trying to install windows still and I have sat my laptop onto a metal colander to allow airflow....not as ghetto as a dog in the way but....I'd like to think it'll work. As long as I don't have to take this thing apart.

What exactly did you do to fix it. Did the fan go out, did you replace the fan? I'm lost...because this laptop cutting of **** is irritating....and hopefully the colander won't let me down. So far so good though right now....<crossing fingers>

I'm soooooo glad I read/found this thread...I could have sworn my life on it that it wasn't the AC Power or the battery.


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## SebD (May 26, 2008)

How big was the dog, exactly?


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## drew555 (Jul 25, 2008)

I meant that there was a build up of dog hair on the inside of the machine, blocking airflow over the cooling fins.

I had to take the fan off of the heatsink to access the dog hair and remove it, but it wasn't like I had to strip the entire machine down.

Good luck 

Oh, and the dog was a small one, Jack Russel I believe.


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## SebD (May 26, 2008)

Drew, the accidental hero.

I had same problem - here:

http://www.techsupportforum.com/f108/solved-acer-aspire-3100-nb-shtting-down-288753.html

Damn Jack Russels.


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## mahtness (Sep 4, 2009)

I'm working on a friend's Acer Aspire 5100-5674 notebook, and it would shut down randomly during a Windows XP (SP2) installation from CD. I couldn't figure out what was causing it until I read this thread... 

I decided to stick a desk fan pointing at the notebook during installation --- and I'm now getting farther into the installation than previously before. So... it seems that the notebook was overheating after all....

Hope this post helps...

Thanks for talking about these issues!


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