Toshiba M35x-S349 issues

About a year ago I purchased a Toshiba M35x-S349. I have been very happy up until now. The past week or so I have had the computer just shut down on me while I am working on something (while plugged into AC), or if I just leave it on and plugged into AC, about half the time I come back and the computer has completely turned off by its self. When I start it back up each time it starts normally, no windows screen that says "you computer shut down incorrectly and we are scanning for bad file" (I can't remember exactly what it says, but we all have seen it). It just turns on and acts normal.

I have also found that the battery will not hold much of a charge anymore and will not charge while I am using the computer and plugged into AC. It has always done a great job charging before.

I think these are 2 separate issues:
A) Problem with settings or registery
B) Battery needs to be replaced (should I need to replace a battery after only a year of use?).

This is what I have done so far with no improvement:

1) made sure there was plenty of Hard Drive space. (It only had 9% free when I checked this, so I deleted a bunch of stuff and have over 23% free now)

2) Ran Reg Clean (3 problems found and fixed)

3) Ran Spyware Dr. (nothing found)

4) Ran Nortons Virus Scan (nothing found)

5) Defragged Drive

I have not downloaded any suspect software or updates in the past few months. I am the only user on this computer.

I have ordered a Toshiba (brand name) battery today. I want to upgrade my Ram to 2 gig (I just bought a Dig SLR and want to buy Photoshop), but I want to find my issue(s) first.

Any help at all would be appreciated! Has anyone else had these problems with their M35x laptops? Did I change a setting by mistake? Help.....

Thanks,
Rob

 

It is not unusual for a battery to only last one year. I would upgrade the hard drive first before doing the memory as you'll get a bigger performance boost there. Perhaps a fresh install or using the System Restore will cure what ails you. Does it say anything in Event Viewer as to why you laptop is shutting down? Photoshop is quite expensive. I would suggest either The Gimp which is free or Photoshop Elements. You can get a copy of Elements on eBay in the $30-50 range. Unless you are doing high end stuff, you probably don't need Photoshop. Good Luck.

 

while I am not completely sold on the quality of my computer, I am truely impressed with Toshiba Customer Service.

I purchased my laptop on Ebay. You can see my issues above. I didn't think it would be covered over warranty since I bought it on line. I thought I was in for a huge repair bill.

I called my local servicer from the Toshiba web site and they told me that I needed to call Toshiba CS to see if it was covered. I called the 800 number and a human answered on the first ring! He then proceeded to ask me a few questions and told me I was under warranty for another week. I took my laptop into my local servicer at 5pm on Tuesday. I got a call yesterday about 7pm to tell me everything was fixed for free. They replaced the main board, the battery, the top cover (palm rest), new chip and fan! I was without my computer for only about 1 full day! If you are in the Seattle area see these guys www.betterguys.com .

Toshiba knows how to make a customer happy. My local guy said if you have this model/series of laptops you should make up a reason to bring it in before the warranty ends and they will most likely find issues. He was not a big fan of this series of laptops, but he was a huge fan of Toshiba's customer support.

- Rob

 

Did they actually tell you what was wrong with the computer? Was it just hardware issue?

 

Sounds to me like a motherboard failure.