Greetings Mike..

Other than the Preventative Maintenance (PM) factor that the other
gentleman mentioned, which is always a good idea, you're probably
going to discover that you've got a hardware issue that probably isn't
fan based. Of course, if you're careful against ANY possible short
circuits, with the case opened up, it cleaned up and a small fan
blowing across it, power it up and see if it again shuts down. If so,
this is likely a hardware anomaly and not something that will be easy
to find or fix. Why not? For one thing, due to the fact that it's 5+
years old now. In laptop/PC terms that's [at least] a couple of
generations of hardware. Regardless, due to surface mount technology
employed these days, it wouldn't exactly be easy to repair even if you
knew exactly the component that was causing the issue. Of course,
that's not to say that it may be more than one component.

Laptops are a different breed when it comes to the actual electronic
components themselves. It's not quite like the standard PC
motherboard. I've now had experience not only sending in a motherboard
for repair which I later got back and the motherboard I'm using right
now which is a different motherboard. In the case with the existing
motherboard I'm using now, the issue was polarized aluminum
electrolytic filter capacitors. Unfortunately, they were the infamous
GSC Taiwanese brand where the electrolyte was [supposedly] stolen and
not correct formula to boot! Result, the electrolyte dried up and the
capacitors required replacement. Symptoms were a constant resetting of
the motherboard. I invested about $10 worth of electrolytic capacitors
and a good deal of time and effort to go through the motherboard after
it was initially discovered that the capacitors were, in fact, the
issue. Incidentally, in this case it was over 30 filter capacitors and
they were NOT surface mount components but 3mm L.S. radial lead.

With the number of sales going on these days with laptops, consider
the alternatives. But also consider an extended warranty IF you
consider a newer laptop. A good friend has had his Fujitsu notebook
back a couple of times now. The last time they got the notebook
working but not the USB connection which constantly showed a short in
a pop-up window. After returning it a second time (still under
warranty) all is fixed and working as it should be. If he had to pay
for all of that...

Good luck!

Cheers,
Mr. Mentor


wrote in message
...
On Apr 5, 2:35 am, wrote:
I also have a 5 years old Compaq Presario 2140CA laptop. I tried to
use System Recovery CDs to reinstll it completely to original
manufacturer standards but the problem is that it just shuts down in
the middle of the recovery or reinstalling process. Previously it
just
shuts down if I play a video or heavy software for 30 minutes or
used
it normally for a few hours.

Right now, as it just shut down many times while I tried to use the
Recovery CDs, nothing is on the computer, not even an operating
system.

I guess some piece of hardware, maybe fan?

The other problem the compaq laptop had is that its ethernet modem
does not work. It just stopped working, I tried all the methods and
called with DSL service company's support line and did all the
things
they suggested. The computer did not talk with the DSL modem (from
the
DSL company) when I type 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. All my other
computers connect perfectly to Internet through the same DSL modem.

Sorry I am not a tech person. Hope you understand and appreciate
helps.

Right fellas,
I have a Compaq Presario V4000- about 5yrs old now & it recently kept
shutdown without warning, I rebooted & guess what...it shut down
again.This kept happening whilst streaming.
I started to read up & soon became aware that other people were having
the same problem.
Is your laptop hot to touch on the top left hand corner? There is a
little alan type screw underneath that houses a cooling system..open
it up & take a look, Mine was clogged with dust about 3mm thick & I
managed to hook it out without a problem...my lappy has been running
fine now for the past 8 weeks!! Spend £10 on finding a screwdriver
that fits mind you! (B&Q) Hope this may help!!!!