I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop which I reinstalled the OS. Somewhere between right after the machine starts up and 5 minutes after using it it freezes. I can't move the mouse or even access task mgr. Everything runs fine in safe mode. To complicate issues, every once in a while when I hit the power button, it revs up but nothing happens. I wiggle the AC cord in the back and it starts loading. I have no idea what's up. I'm half expecting it's the power supply but it works fine in safe mode so that's probably not a correct assumption. Memory and HDD all test out fine. I"ve gone into msconfig and disabled everything in startup, rebooted and had the same problem. I get no BSOD either. Event viewer shows nothing helpful. What options do I have for further troubleshooting?
Have you installed the latest drivers for your devices? (Most importantly graphics and sound card). Sounds like a driver-error or incompatibility because most drivers aren't loaded whe booting to the safe mode...
+ another for drivers....Toshiba's website support page should have all the device drivers....don't forget the touchpad etc.....I know my Dell Laptop has a bunch of drivers that are not included with a basic OS load.
Not to insult. Safe mode loads only those things that you need to properly boot the computer. If you have some other peripheral that is not part of the computer, external drives, printers, mice etc... are not loaded. So what I am saying is +1 on the drivers, but the worry some thing is the giggling of the power cord. Perhaps you are having a short somewhere or a grounding problem? How does it work in battery mode?
Might be a heat issue. How long have you had the laptop (i'm looking for a length of time to accumulate dust, like a year or more).
Sounds like driver issues. Update drivers one drive/card at a time and than do your peripherals. Shouldnt be a problem with the re-install of the OS if it fully boots and runs in safe mode. Could be a heat problem but less likely if it runs in safe mode. A spray can of air never hurts though. Lastly it could be an electrical bug. Than again it could be a failing drive. Its really a crap shoot. You'll have to go through every possibility one by one till its fixed. Start with the drivers first though. Than back up your drives ASAP.
I've had it for a few years but in that time, I've had to have it serviced (last year). I think it was cleaned then.
As to the drivers: that was my original thought and it's still a possibility. I had disabled all device drivers other than HDD, keyboard, mouse and display, in safe mode then rebooted in normal mode. Same problem. Usually, my first attempt would be to disable all the drivers that safe mode doesn't use, reboot and start enabling one driver at a time until the problem reoccurs. I can try to download the drivers from Toshiba's website but since I used the Toshiba recovery disk, I don't know if I would be downloading anything new. Certainly couldn't hurt so that'll be my next step. Thank guys, I appreciate it. I'm surprised no one yet gave me the ultimate fix: Go Mac or Linux
If you're using Vista, it may be a large file on the desktop. My wife's Toshiba laptop has an issue where if the files on the desktop exceed a certain size, then one of the processes took up 97-99% of the CPU (explorer.exe if I remember correctly???). I removed everything except shortcuts from her desktop and the problem is gone. I also found a registry edit fix, but don't like messing with the registry unless absolutely necessary.
Actually, this might help determine if it's a software or hardware issue. Download the latest (k)ubuntu boot disk iso, burn to disk and try booting from it.
If it is hardware failure, you should experience the same problems when booting straight from the ubuntu ISO. It gives you the option when you put the disk in your cd drive and than boot your computer. If the same problem persists its a hardware issue. If not, its a software issue.
And its an extremely slim chance that a registry error is going to cause your machien to just die like that.
