X20 boot and freezing problems

Hi all!

My Samsung X20 is about 3 years and it always worked reliably for several hours per day without any problems.
However, about three weeks ago the notebook suddenly began to behave differently: first, it wasn't possible to reduce the brightness of the screen for power savings by using the blue Fn-key-combination. Although the clock-like sign appeared in the upper left corner, neither the brightness changed nor the sign went away after releasing the key combination. However, the sound control was working fine. When I shut down the computer it froze at the "Windows shut down screen". Only by using the power-key I was able to turn off the computer completely, but it didn't boot again. Only the very first start screen with the Samsung sign appeared, but the blue progress line didn't move on. By slight pressure on the area around the touchpad the progress line moved on to about 80% and then nothing happened. It was not possible to open the boot sector either. The only thing that works in that situation is to turn off the computer for a while, maybe to cool down. Then it boots normally. To me, all this looks like a kind of overheating problem. That's why I opened the notebook to clean the fan, which was only slightly clogged (Hey "martinx20" and "John Ratsey", thank you very much for the instructions to open the X20 – they were very helpful and easy to follow!). Nevertheless, the problem is still there. Whenever I turn off the computer I have to wait for a couple of minutes until it can be started again.
Does anybody have an idea what is going on and what I can do to fix the problem?

Thank you for your help.

Sebastian!

 

You can use HWmonitor to check the operating temperature. Temperatures up to about 80C should not be a problem. There is a small possibility that the cooling system needs refitting onto the CPU. If this is the problem then you should see a high CPU temperature but the cooling system is blowing out cool air.

Next, I would suggest that you try running the computer off a Linux live CD (eg Ubuntu). If the computer will run for several hours under Linux without problems then this would suggest that the Windows installation is corrupted.

However, having problems with booting the computer suggests a hardware problem. You can check the RAM using the memory test option on the Linux CD. You may be able to check the HDD using a utility from the HDD manufacturer's website. Otherwise, there may be a bad connection somewhere arising from normal wear and old age. Sometimes, dismantling and rebuilding a computer will reseat any bad connections.

John