Toshiba Satellite A205-S5853 shuts down randomly

[shashgo]

I have the above laptop with windows 7 on it, fresh install.  It had windows vista on it previously, but the problem existed even then.   Problem is that whenever Im running the laptop in normal mode, the laptop shutsoff randomly even with no programs running.  I did some research on this and read that the nvidia graphics chips sometimes heat up and cuse this.  However, when I start the laptop in safe mode, this random behaviour of shutdown does not happen.  So it seems that there is some driver or device that gets started in normal mode that causes this shutdown behaviour.  How would I go about finding what driver it is, if my deduction is correct?

Could there be any other cause

[DaveLembke]

Safe Mode runs graphics at lowest setting, so the video card wont heat up like it would in normal desktop environment etc. I think your still dealing with atemp issue. Install speedfan if you can to the system when its running normal and look at temps. I have a feeling you may need to replace thermal compound or a fan may not be keeping up with the heat output such as if its failing to spin at times orspinning too slow, or obstructed with hair,lint etc.

I had a Toshiba Qosmio with the same Core 2 Duo 1.83Ghz CPU and GeForce 7300 Mobile and the thermal bond between the heat pads degraded and caused it to shutdown. I opened the laptop and carefully removed the heatsink assembly and applied arctic silver and reapplied heatsink and dropped my temp. I was idling around 55-60C and games would peg it into 80C and cause shutdowns. I applied new thermal compound and locked heatsink down and now it never gets over 56C when gaming.

[Your I.T. Guy]

I agree, if it's turning off it is most likely an overheating issue.

A cooling pad may help somewhat but it would be a bandaid solution at best.

[6steve6]

Had the same problem with an older Dell laptop. Opened it up and blew a load of dust out of the fan with an air duster can and have never had another shutdown.

[ChrisL25]

I have a Toshiba Satellite L675 and will forever stay a Toshiba and Windows fan. Love the product!

I had the same issues with random shut downs and concluded that it was a over heating issue. You can take it to a computer store and have them take it apart and clean the inside. I highly suggest not doing this yourself because it can be a big hassle.

I did what I could with a little dust blower and have bought a laptop cooling fan. That right there solved my problem. Hope this helps!