BSOD then system crash

My week old dv8t just crashed on me after a BSOD. When I turn it on, I hear the fan, and it lights up for a few seconds, then everything stops; then this cycle goes on again and again...I tried the recovery discs but no luck.

I am thinking that it's the processor. If it was the HDD I think the recovery discs would have worked.

Of course I can get an exchange or a refund, but I'd like to know what happened.

Processor or HDD?

 

Processors don't normally just fail...

Unless it fired itself or was faulty from the start...

 

This thing has been running hotter (I think) than normal from the start. I had lots of paper around it on he table it was sitting on, and that may not have left enough space for it to breathe(?). I've read that running hot is a common problem with the Intel Core™ i7-720 Quad processor...

I just love this laptop and would like to exchange it for the same model. But I am worried that I'd run into the same problem.

 

Well, yes, I have seen comments that i7 Processors run very hot.

But they should shut down if they overheat.

So let us assume you have blocked vents - then once a certain temperature is reached the processor will either clock down or shut down - if you cannot even boot its some hardware fault - not necessarily the processor.

 

Have you tried starting it in safe mode (without networking)? I have a friend with a similar model and his wireless kept taking him down.

After disabling wireless in safe mode via device manager, and downloading a new driver from the manufacturer's site things worked again.

 

But then shouldn't the recovery discs have solved the issue - I assume the laptop originally worked.

 

It doesn't go far enough for me to go to safe mode: when I press the on button the lights go on, I hear the fan for a couple of seconds, then the lights go off... and the cycle repeats on and on: it just keeps trying unsuccessfully to boot.

 

I think its warranty time...

I wonder if you can get into the BIOS....

 

It has worked fine for over a week.

 

Time to use the warranty then I fear...

 

I already packed it up to return it but after I read your comment, I tried again to boot it up and... it's working now! So you are right, it was just a matter of giving it enough time to cool down.

But doesn't that mean a shorter life for the processor if it keeps running hotter than normal?

 

Well, as long as it shuts down no - however in the long run, you might get unlucky one of those days and end up with corrupted data if it constantly overheats and shuts down.

On the other hand - if temperatures are too high, maybe there is a problem with the cooling system.

 

I had two DV8T I got on 12/19 with Windows 7-64 and 8 gig of RAM. I'm not 100% sure what's wrong with them but I do know they would freeze up when I moved them. One of them did BOSD a few times. I went through the dumps and it didn’t really point to any one thing which leads me to a possible bad component in the laptop. I went as far as to remove and reinstall the memory modules in opposite order. That turned out to be another issue in itself. Window 7-64 stopped seeing 4 gig of RAM although the laptop showed 8 gig. I removed them and put them back in and that issue went away but the freezing issue is still occurring. IMHO there’s a quality control issue at the manufacture. I’ve seen numerous posts on Hp’s website regarding issue with the DV8T. So far I've sent one back for a refund and I have a return set up for the other one. It's going back on Saturday or sooner if I can get to FedEx before the New Year.