I have an IBM T20, 700mhz, 128MB RAM. I currently have no battery pack for this laptop...I run it plugged into the wall.
A few days ago, the laptop started power surging. That is, while booted up and sitting idle for a little while (not a long time though), it would spontaneously power down for a half second and then try to power up. It was brief enough so that the screen would be all streaked and the computer wouldn't even go through the POST when powering up again. Since then, it has been happening more frequently. My guess is that it doesn't matter if the laptop is actually idle or not, but for fear of further destroying the hardware, I am not using it until I resolve the problem.
Okay, so I've Google-searched and queried EE and found the following possibilities (amongst others):
1) "power supply" - for laptops, does this mean the power cord/adapter? Or does this mean something attached to the motherboard?
2) CPU fan - fairly cheap and easy to replace; I've visually inspected mine and can't tell if it's bad or not. How do I test this? It looks a little dirty, but not too bad
3) RAM - does my problem actually sound RAM related?
4) BIOS/software - I can't flash my BIOS unless I buy a battery pack first; I guess I could try running some spyware tools, but I might fry the laptop by running it!
Any other suggestions?
I bought this computer off eBay last year for about $150...don't want to put a lot of $$$ into it, but I'm willing replace the CPU fan or add memory if it will fix the problem. I've been wanting to upgrade it...add memory, buy a battery pack, etc. However, if it's a MoBo issue, then all of that would be wasted.
500 points because I'm looking to get this fixed ASAP.
Thanks in advance,
Drew
Start Free Trial