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Laptop shuts off randomly - how to transfer files off of it?

post #1 of 31
7/6/10 at 10:57pm
Thread Starter 
So this laptop which isn't even that old just shuts down randomly. Sounds like it overheats or something, which is ridiculous because it isn't being asked to do much. I just bought an apple, sick of this shit. So, there's about 10gb of files on this computer that I need to transfer over. How do I do that when I only get about 20 minutes between complete shut downs?

After I have gotten the stuff off this computer I'm just throwing it away.
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post #2 of 31
7/6/10 at 11:00pm
external HD. saved my ass a few times.
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post #3 of 31
7/6/10 at 11:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdeuce22 View Post
external HD. saved my ass a few times.

This is actually on a second HD in the laptop, not the primary.
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post #4 of 31
7/6/10 at 11:11pm
you can still save the files to the external off the secondary. drag and drop. portable HDs are so cheap now. that is probably the easiest solution i can think of. or you could rig the secondary HD to a PC and drop the files in a working HD, then transfer to your new laptop later
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post #5 of 31
7/6/10 at 11:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdeuce22 View Post
you can still save the files to the external off the secondary. drag and drop. portable HDs are so cheap now. that is probably the easiest solution i can think of.

or you could rig the secondary HD to a PC and drop the files in a working HD, then transfer to your new laptop later

Ya problem is the computer only stays on for like 20-30 minutes, and through USB this would take like days. The mac has firewire but not the laptop.
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post #6 of 31
7/6/10 at 11:20pm
yeah. true. i think rigging it up to a working pc is your best at the moment. USB 2.0 is pretty fast, but it would take some time still. buy the IT guys at your office some donuts and they'll do it for you (if they are files you dont mind sharing)
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post #7 of 31
7/6/10 at 11:31pm
Obvious answer is to put the drive into an external casing and access it via USB from another computer. It probably is not the hard drive.

Either way, putting it into an external HD encasement (like $10 at best buy) is super easy and almost always works. I've saved a lot of data this way.
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post #8 of 31
7/6/10 at 11:32pm
Well first you
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post #9 of 31
7/7/10 at 2:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SField View Post
So this laptop which isn't even that old just shuts down randomly. Sounds like it overheats or something, which is ridiculous because it isn't being asked to do much. I just bought an apple, sick of this shit. So, there's about 10gb of files on this computer that I need to transfer over. How do I do that when I only get about 20 minutes between complete shut downs?

After I have gotten the stuff off this computer I'm just throwing it away.

Are you me? This is the exact story of what happened to my HP laptop (and my Dad's HP laptop, and my stepbrother's HP laptop, you get the picture). Took out the HD, put it in an external casing, transferred the files, and then smashed the POS into pieces. Bought a MacBook Pro and a 24" external monitor a few days later, and the last 2 months or so have been the first time in my life I haven't been frustrated while using a computer.
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post #10 of 31
7/7/10 at 2:46am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Incman View Post
Are you me? This is the exact story of what happened to my HP laptop (and my Dad's HP laptop, and my stepbrother's HP laptop, you get the picture). Took out the HD, put it in an external casing, transferred the files, and then smashed the POS into pieces. Bought a MacBook Pro and a 24" external monitor a few days later, and the last 2 months or so have been the first time in my life I haven't been frustrated while using a computer.

How did you know that it's an HP?

How do you use the external monitor? Why not just get the 27" iMac?
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post #11 of 31
7/7/10 at 2:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim View Post
Well first you

and after that you
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post #12 of 31
7/7/10 at 2:49am
sorry my computer shut
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post #13 of 31
7/7/10 at 2:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SField View Post
How did you know that it's an HP?

How do you use the external monitor? Why not just get the 27" iMac?

I knew it was a HP because their hardware has caused me (and those around me) nothing but issues. A quick google search of my model number + brief description of the problem yielded forums with numerous people complaining of the same issue.

And re the external monitor; I bought that because I am a university student and need a laptop to bring to class. I didn't want to work on a 13" screen at home though, so I bought the monitor for $200, and it's perfect. I bought a mini-display to HDMI converter, and an HDMI cable from Monoprice (total like $10), hook it up to the computer, and it's good to go.

Ideally I would've liked to get an iMac for home and a MBP for school, but I'm not in the "250K fallback" crowd, I'm in the "work 2 jobs throughout university to get by" crowd.
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post #14 of 31
7/7/10 at 3:51am
HP's support website has detailed repair videos for most of their laptops. How much is your time worth? Spend a couple hours to clean out the fan and heatsinks and you should be good.

In my experience this is only a temporary fix but it should be enough to get more than 20 minutes out of the machine.
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post #15 of 31
7/7/10 at 4:58am
Try buying a can of compressed air and blowing air into the vents around the fan. Should clear out enough of the dust to help a little bit.
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