Old laptop trouble

[dolluper]

I have an old Dell latitude CPX win 2000 os,the problem I'm having is the internal mouse is locking up= no movement,after about 10 minutes.The power is draining and I have to hit the power button to shut her down.Also I have not heard the fan operating,,it does seem to be running a little hot ,do you think the fan may be causing the power drain......where is the thermostat????:$

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Old laptop trouble

I have used this before to monitor and control your fan:

http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html

If the fan is not working, it can effect the mouse and cause the whole system to lockup.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Old laptop trouble

Eric gave you the link to download the FanGui utility. Beware, some Inspirons and Latitudes have a different way of controlling the fan and this utility may not work. Before I loaded it, I would go to the DELL website and make sure my bios is the most current. Fan speed is controlled by the bios and not the operating system. If it's not current, download and intall the most current.

 

[i386]

Re: Old laptop trouble

Cooling is extremely important for a laptop because there's very little air space inside. All sorts of bad things can happen if it gets too hot.

However...

I think if it was overheating, not only would the mouse not respond nothing would. You don't need the mouse to shutdown. You can just hit ctrl-alt-del and select shutdown. So I guess what I'm asking is it just the mouse or is the whole system locking up?

 

[dolluper]

Re: Old laptop trouble

Yes a complete lock -up ,it's quite a chore to get it to shut down and can be done only with the power button.Ctrl /ALT/delete doesn't do it.This computer was only on the net 6 years ago,no resent updates for 2000 win os.I was going to put it online but still waiting fot the pcmica card {dail-up} be here in a couple of days.I hope I can resolve this issue first ......thanks for helping

 

[AK_Chappy]

Re: Old laptop trouble

Do you have any dogs/cats or did you when the computer was running?
Mine started getting hot. I googled how to disassemble it, starting with "change keyboard". I found a bunch of old hair clogging the vent outlet. I cleaned it up. It is now running like new. Well, except my power button, but that is a seperate issue.

AK Chappy

 

[dolluper]

Re: Old laptop trouble

Well Chappy nothing P'd on it I think,maybe I'LL ask the wifeo or maybe I shouldn't.Used this lapper for checking out cars on the road and so did my employee's maybe there's a Big Mac hiding in there stopping the fan from working.Very soon I'LL be tearing her down :devil:

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Old laptop trouble

You can use the program I suggested to see if the fan is working. I have used it many times with no problems. You can uninstall it if needed.

If the fan is not working order the fan and you'll be happy laptoping again d

 

[dolluper]

Re: Old laptop trouble

Update I installed the fan program,it's real neatBut the mouse is still freezing up and no keyboard functions work when it freezes.Before it froze I got some info...Driver Version 5.0.21831
Intel 82371AB/EBPCI...ISA bridge [E10 mode]
Dell Latitude CPX pen III [3] win 2000 os
It was on the net last in 1999
Anybody have any thoughts on what would cause this freeze up and by the way I have to use the power button to shut it down it's the only way

 

[xtraham]

Re: Old laptop trouble

do you here any clicking noise when it freezes up?
mine was doing a simular thing, but I could here the hard drive clicking.
had to replace the h/d

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Old laptop trouble

Does the program show that the fan is working? How long after startup does it lock up?

 

[dolluper]

Re: Old laptop trouble

Yes fan is working when I was installing from a CD it even worked ,set it to normal on program it works fine....
10 to 15 minutes the whole system locks up
Only kicker I didn't mention is the Cd writer/reader sometimesdoesn't stay in right so you have to ESC then reboot on start up then it's fine even if you don't go near the r/w but only for 10 to 15 minutes.....Starting to baff me.....Teardown coming I think

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Old laptop trouble

If your fan is working and the temp is OK, then I don't see what a teardown will do for you.

When the laptop boots press ctrl-alt d (not del) when it first boots up, that will run a diag on the hard drive.

If you go to http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&clearsystem=true&l=en&s=gen#en#us, and pick your laptop, might give you some more options.