A Very Strange Problem.....

hi... My uncle brought be a Toshiba satille a135- s2386 model and. was very thrilled.. until it begins to freeze unexpectedly at random reasons....
I called support and they told me to reformat etc.. (done)... still have that problem.. , I thought it was the bios problem so.. i dl the toshiba Bios.. it.. got.. a bit better but still freezes.. on... things such as.. sudden installations.. or.. open.. moving files.. playing music.. etc....
I am very very lost rite now.. if any ones.. got an idea.. or anything plz.. post.. XD.. i did.. almost everything possible.. and the support ppl.. kinda. have no clue as to wahts going on... I 'm not sure if..its a hardware or.. software.. problem.. btw.. i ardy atted 1.5g to it so its.. got.. 1.5gram
windows.. vista.. with .. all the toshiba stuff removed

 

for hardware problem do the following:

for memory use memtest86 to test it.

for hd, get your hd manufacturer's diagnostic tool.

you might also want to check to see if your optical drive and hd are both in udma mode instead of pio.

 

Sounds like videocard or overheating. Though the latter tends to restart the computer.

Definitely sounds like a hardware issue though... Reinstall the Toshiba drivers from the Toshiba site.

If that doesn't work, can you just send it in under warranty?

 

ty for the quick reply but i was wondering where i can check my optical drive and hd to see what mode it is?? i don't think its.. the memory's.. problem.. but i 'll check on that too.. what is the memtest86??..
and.. where is. the.. manufacturer's diagnostic tool

 

we can't.. send unless i can confirm that its a hardware problem....

 

The problem could be anything suggested so far. Might be a conflict between progams, or simply something in Vista disagreeing with life in general. If you find the time while following through with the other ideas mentioned, you might want to check your event viewer to help narrow the focus of your troubleshooting.

@FGLRX: not sure I follow your suggestion to reinstall the Toshiba drivers. The OP stated, " . . . all the toshiba stuff removed"

If there are drivers for Toshiba programs that he may want later, shouldn't he wait 'till after he's solved the lock-up problem before downloading them or am I just clueless about Toshiba apps etc?


Edit: MemTest.

 

Dude, why do you keep inserting random periods and punctuation? Type in complete sentences like an adult. You will get more help since people will actually understand what you're trying to say.

 

if you go to device manager (control panel > system > hardware tab). then go to you ata/ide controllers. then go to your primary ide and see what it says in advanced settings.

 

He reformatted the hard drive.

I'd suggest he install the Toshiba (or just, the hardware) drivers. The latest drivers.

Many of Vista's problems are as a result of poorly programmed/Beta/Incomplete/Buggy drivers. It's possible his problem relates to one of these drivers, and thus, updating the latest drivers could help with that.

(Clarify: Driver is not App. Drivers make the OS and the Hardware communicate correctly. Apps .. .. just do nifty things. I suggest he install the most updated drivers-- not toshiba Bloatware)


It also sounds like a problem I once had with a CD drive of mine, but that was like.. 6 years ago. I doubt that's the issue-- though, it came down, again, to a driver problem.


It's impossible to really confirm it's a 'hardware' issue, so if you can't figure it out, just tell them "yeah it's broken"

 

I agree that the OP should use updated drivers and understand your app/driver point, but still don't understand the need to update Toshiba drivers without any Toshiba software installed. Seems to me he might compound his problem.

 

Could you have uninstalled something you might have needed? Just a wild guess here. Also I noticed in your other post you only have 512 megs of ram to run Vista. You need at least 1 gig for it to run smooth.

 

ty for the replys , I dled most of the drivers and check the hd and optical drive and it looks ok, i was wondering if there is.. something i was suppose to do.. once i got the laptop.. cause i just.. started playing with it once i got it?..
is there. a patch. or. something i was suppose to do??

 

o nono i no about the ram,its 1.5 Gb of ram , i sticked a 1 g in the second slot of the laptop. It runs pretty smooth just.. crashes... on no apparent reason..