Phoenix Fires

Ok this is the second time that this has happened.

I've been fine using my laptop, doing whatever, and suddenly, my laptop will decide to shut down of its own accord. First of all I'm thinking what the fuck is it doing? And I'll turn it back on. But then it refused to go past the first stage of loading, y'know, when it has a black screen and is telling you it's loading the startup log or whatever.

But then it beeps and tells me there's some failure and I need to put some disk in Drive:A.

I don't even know wtf disk it's talking about, have no idea where drive A is, and I have to unplug everything, restart, turn it off, re-plug, restart, turn it off, same damn FAILURE IN DRIVE A PROBLEM!!!!! WTHF is that?!

After about 30 minutes of starting and restarting and plugging in whatever, it begins and it's fine again. But...

WTF?!

Someone please help me! I'm definately no computer tech wizard and have no idea what is going on!!! *begins to panic*

Lowercountry

Virus protected ?

Phoenix Fires

It's expired, but I scanned the system twice the other day and there was nothing wrong there.

Lowercountry

Sounds like some sort of system error that might require re-installing windows but I am by far an expert on such things.

DarknessHerself

I'm guessing that it could be a virus like Lowercountry said, because some viruses/trojans/spyware/etc. needs your computer to be restarted in order to work properly. It's the same deal with installing new softwares, they require you to restart so that your registry can be refreshed, aka new jobs that has been given to your comp can be run. So a virus that makes you restart immediately would probably be so that [this is a guess] the effect of the virus can be run before your virus scanner can pick it up (Some virus scanners aren't very efficient in picking up viruses fast namely Norton [which is why u want a fast virus scanner-- I recommend NOD32 for all computers new or old]).

But going back on topic, to see if you have malware on your computer (meaning unwanted shit) go to this website and look up which processes you have that are in the malware section or the other section: http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/index.html

Update your virus definitions first, [if you have Windows XP and you do have a virus] you can try (yes, even though you've scanned it a few days ago):

-System restore in Safe Mode:

1. Reboot your Laptop
2. Keep hitting F8 (I can't remember whether its F8 or F10, if its not the right key, just hit the rest of the F number buttons--it wont kill ur comp)
3. Using the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard, choose Safemode
4. Now that you're in a cheapass graphical version of XP, Click on your Start button and scroll over to All Programs, then to Accessories, System, and System Restore.
5. Once on the System Restore screen, choose a system restore point that is a full restore (one that's not just settings, preferably) [rest is self explanatory and automatic]

-Virus Scan in Safe Mode:

1. Use the processes 1 through 3 above
2. Now, I'm not sure what virus scanner you're using, but just scan your computer using your virus scanner.

The whole point of Safe Mode is so that your computer ONLY boots up using the necessary processes so that your virus scanner can easily get rid of the virus if you have one. Antiviruses can't do shit to a trojan/virus/worm/spyware/adware/etc. if it's running as a process in your Windows. So by turning on Safe Mode, it wont run and ur antivirus can delete it.

I hope that helps. My boyfriend suggested that it's a Bios virus because of the A:\ drive deal, but it all depends on what your motherboard brand is to get help to flashback your Bios memory. *is such a geek*

Edit: not all Bios viruses are detected by antiviruses.

[/geek]

Fritzer86

That sounds more like a hardware problem than a software/virus issue.

How old is your laptop/who made it (ex: Dell)/model number (ex: Dell Inspiron 4550)/RAM/hard drive size?

My idea is that your laptop's harddrive is failing, and when it doesn't work, the system asks you to insert some kind of operating system disk in drive A: (probably a boot floppy, or maybe some kind of recovery disk....BTW, drive A: usually is your floppy drive).

If the virus scans work, then great, you won't have to worry about this. If they don't, it may be time to call tech. support and see what they can do. If it is a bad HDD, it may have to be replaced.

Try the virus scans (in safe mode) first, then go from there.
-Craig

Phoenix Fires

I'll try the Safemode thing in a minute... also I'll call Tech Support.

My laptop info is:

EiSystem 3001 Notebook
Windows XP
256 MB DDR-Ram
20 GB HDD (it's a Notebook not a large-memory system) (12.5 GB free)

It happened again this morning. This time I copied down what it told me, and it's:
Boot failure
Insert BOOT diskette in A:
Press any key when ready

Problem is that I don't have a floppy drive that I can find at all. I don't know what diskette it's talking about.

Hoopyfrood

OK, just to clarify, in all occurrences you were able to continue no problem after letting the system sit unused and off for a while?
If your answer is yes then it is 99% likely that it's a heat problem. It could be almost any component, though from the sound of the problem, it is either the HDD, or the chip in the computer that controls the interface between the drive and the CPU. I'd actually be inclined to say it's the latter, as I'm thinking that after the heat failure your computer isn't seeing that there is a hard drive at all until it cools down. If you feel confident in playing with the settings on your computer we could try changing a setting (IF the setting is there) that would show if that theory is right or not.

Phoenix Fires

I haven't tried leaving it be after it's done that, since I was inclined to panic that something had bust

I scanned the whole thing while in safe mode, there are no viruses on my system, which means it's a hardware problem I guess. Boo.

I don't think it's a heat problem, because when it happened this afternoon, I'd had it on long enough to load the internet after start up and write about 100 words of a reply to a PM when it shutdown.

So...

I wouldn't mind changing a setting, I've made a system restore point in case something goes wrong.

DarknessHerself

What service pack do you have installed (some computers have been known to go %$@# when an Service pack is installed)?

I hate to say this...but I'm inclined to think that it's a heat problem as well (aka hardware problem) because if it's a boot file error, then it wouldn'tve booted at all (stupid me). Perhaps you might've used your laptop in warmer areas for quite a few weeks/months to have finally made it go %$@#. At worse, you'll need to replace your whole laptop because the heat could have damaged anything in there. Sorry.


Hope its not a hardware prob, post back and tell us what they said was wrong. (it helps us learn )