Computer Hope

Software => Computer viruses and spyware => Topic started by: geoffparker88 on July 18, 2011, 01:02:27 PM

Title: Laptop suddenly turns black, then shuts off
Post by: geoffparker88 on July 18, 2011, 01:02:27 PM
Hey everyone,

My laptop, (it's an HP Pavilion dv6 running Windows 7) recently started having this terrible problem. What happens is that I'm doing something totally non computer-intensive when all of a sudden the screen just turns black and a second or two later shuts off. It seems as though if I don't use it for a couple of days, and then boot it up, it doesn't have the problem. But once I turn it off and turn it on again, it happens.

For example, yesterday, after not using it for about two weeks, I had it on for about an hour or two before turning it off on my own. Today, I was on the internet reading an article, and had my virus software (McAfee) running a scan. I thought it was going to be okay, as if it was going to go black and turn off, it would have done so already. But, within 20-30 minutes of it being on, it did just that... it went black and turned off. I turned it on again, curious to see how long it would take to happen this time. I made it to the desktop before it went black and shut off after about 2-3 minutes.

Another thing of interest is that when it is on, it is very slow, much slower than usual. And another thing. A long while back, I had set my desktop so that it would change pictures every 10 minutes. I forgot exactly when this started, but the images don't change anymore. I thought it was just a mild annoyance, but I'm wondering if it's a symptom of the overall issue?

A couple other things: I had some system restore points before, but when I checked yesterday, it said I didn't have any. And, sometimes, a window comes up before my laptop goes black and shuts off, but I don't have time to even see what it says.

What in the world is going on? Is it a virus, trojan, spyware, etc? Or something related to the hardware going faulty? I do know that the battery died a long time ago, so the only way I keep the computer on is plugging it in. The moment it's unplugged, the computer is off.

Is there any way to reclaim my laptop? I've read about wiping the hard drive and re-installing Windows 7, but I don't know how to wipe the hard drive, nor did my laptop come with a Windows 7 disk.

Sorry about the long post, but I wanted to include as much detail as possible in the case that it may help diagnosing the problem.

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P.S. - I had posted the above question on another forum, and had gotten one reply. The reason I'm posting in this forum is because the last one was not at all very active, and I'm just trying to get as much help and as fast as possible, thus posting the problem in multiple forums. Anyway, the one reply on the other forum said:

[COLOR="Red"]it could be virus/spyware, could also be heat thats causing the shutdown. once the laptop gets too hot..thermal protection kicks in..shutting it down to prevent damage.
check your vents for dust, and either use a can of air to clean it...or use a vacuum to suck out the dust.

another to try is boot to safemode...use for a awhile...if it shuts down then its likely heat related for sure.

as for reclaiming your laptop..HP: restart laptop and press F11..then select recover pc. only do this if you rule out or fix your current problem as you dont want it to shutdown while is running recovery
[/COLOR]

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My reply was thus:

Hey, thanks for replying and helping. I really appreciate it. And sorry it's taken me so long to reply... I've been really busy.

I tried what you said and booted to each of the three Safe Modes: Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, and Safe Mode with Command Prompt. In fact, I booted to each of these three modes multiple times. Not once did the computer ever turn black and shut off.

However, as soon as I booted the computer in normal mode, it went black and shut off.

So, does this confirm that the problem's not heat related, but virus/spyware/trojan/whatever related?

How do I know that my computer won't shut down while I'm recovering it? Perhaps a better question should be, how do I prevent it from sutting down while I'm recovering it?

And I read something about wiping the hard drive clean... should I do that? If so, do you have step-by-step instructions for a complete newb? And do I need a Windows 7 recovery/installation disk?

Thanks again for the help.
Title: Re: Laptop suddenly turns black, then shuts off
Post by: SuperDave on July 18, 2011, 01:12:01 PM
Hello and welcome to Computer Hope Forum. My name is Dave. I will be helping you out with your particular problem on your computer.

1. I will be working on your Malware issues. This may or may not solve other issues you have with your machine.
2. The fixes are specific to your problem and should only be used for this issue on this machine.
3. If you don't know or understand something, please don't hesitate to ask.
4. Please DO NOT run any other tools or scans while I am helping you.
5. It is important that you reply to this thread. Do not start a new topic.
6. Your security programs may give warnings for some of the tools I will ask you to use. Be assured, any links I give are safe.
7. Absence of symptoms does not mean that everything is clear.

If you can't access the internet with your infected computer you will have to download and transfer any programs to the computer you're using now and transfer them to the infected computer with a CD-RW or a USB storage device. I prefer a CD because a storage device can get infected. If you use a storage device hold the shift key down while inserting the USB storage device for about 10 secs. You will also have to transfer the logs you receive back to the good computer using the same method until we can get the computer back on-line.
***************************************************
SUPERAntiSpyware

If you already have SUPERAntiSpyware be sure to check for updates before scanning!

Download SuperAntispyware Free Edition (SAS) (http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html)
* Double-click the icon on your desktop to run the installer.
* When asked to Update the program definitions, click Yes
* If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download and unzip them from here
* Next click the Preferences button.

•Under Start-Up Options uncheck Start SUPERAntiSpyware when Windows starts
* Click the Scanning Control tab.
* Under Scanner Options make sure only the following are checked:

•Close browsers before scanning
•Scan for tracking cookies
•Terminate memory threats before quarantining
Please leave the others unchecked

•Click the Close button to leave the control center screen.

* On the main screen click Scan your computer
* On the left check the box for the drive you are scanning.
* On the right choose Perform Complete Scan
* Click Next to start the scan. Please be patient while it scans your computer.
* After the scan is complete a summary box will appear. Click OK
* Make sure everything in the white box has a check next to it, then click Next
* It will quarantine what it found and if it asks if you want to reboot, click Yes

•To retrieve the removal information please do the following:
•After reboot, double-click the SUPERAntiSpyware icon on your desktop.
•Click Preferences. Click the Statistics/Logs tab.

•Under Scanner Logs, double-click SUPERAntiSpyware Scan Log.

•It will open in your default text editor (preferably Notepad).
•Save the notepad file to your desktop by clicking (in notepad) File > Save As...

* Save the log somewhere you can easily find it. (normally the desktop)
* Click close and close again to exit the program.
*Copy and Paste the log in your post.
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(http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/digistar/mbamicontw5.gif) Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from here. (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/malwarebytes/mbam-setup.exe)
Double Click mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
Extra Note:

If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove,you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts,click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process. If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately.
************************************************
Download DDS from HERE (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/sUBs/dds.scr) or HERE (http://www.forospyware.com/sUBs/dds) and save it to your desktop.

Vista users right click on dds and select Run as administrator (you will receive a UAC prompt, please allow it)

* XP users Double click on dds to run it.
* If your antivirus or firewall try to block DDS then please allow it to run.
* When finished DDS will open two (2) logs.

1) DDS.txt
2) Attach.txt

* Save both logs to your desktop.
* Please copy and paste the entire contents of both logs in your next reply.

Note: DDS will instruct you to post the Attach.txt log as an attachment.
Please just post it as you would any other log by copying and pasting it into the reply.
Title: Re: Laptop suddenly turns black, then shuts off
Post by: geoffparker88 on July 20, 2011, 12:01:37 PM
Hey Dave, thanks a bunch for the detailed help. I really appreciate it!

Unfortunately, I could not complete your instructions. I got to the part where you say "Click Next to start the scan. Please be patient while it scans your computer." I left my computer to scan, and when I came back an hour or so later, the computer was off. I'm assuming that it didn't like what I was doing and so did the whole turn-black-and-shut-off routine.

So, what do I do now?

Again, thanks for the help. It's much appreciated.
Title: Re: Laptop suddenly turns black, then shuts off
Post by: SuperDave on July 20, 2011, 04:07:53 PM
Ok. Please do this: Boot the computer in Safe Mode with NetWorking. Download and run a scan with MBAM. Reboot your computer in Normal mode and run another scan with MBAM.

Safe Mode (http://www.computerhope.com/issues/chsafe.htm#03)
Title: Re: Laptop suddenly turns black, then shuts off
Post by: falcone on July 22, 2011, 10:29:44 AM
Your comment has been removed. Please do not post malware advice, or post here in the malware forum, unless you need help.  Superdave.