The laptop freezes completely when USB device connected.

Possible cause:

1. Defective USB device.
2. Bad USB port.
3. Corrupted software.
4. Motherboard failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

1. It’s possible the USB device is defective. Test your laptop with another USB device.

2. If the laptop freezes when USB device is plugged into one particular port, most likely the port itself is defective. Repair or replace the defective USB port or use the laptop with remaining working USB ports.

3. If the problematic USB device requires a special driver, try reinstalling the driver and test this device again.

4. Go to the device manager and uninstall all entires from the Universal Serial Bus controllers. Restart the laptop and let it re-detect USB ports and reinstall drivers. Test your device again.

5. It’s possible that some core system files are corrupted. Try reinstalling the operating system from scratch. Test your USB device after that.

6. If none of the above mentioned steps help, most likely there is a problem with the USB controller on the motherboard. In this case you’ll have to replace the motherboard.

By the way, instead of replacing the motherboard you can try using the laptop with a PCMCIA USB card. You plug this card into the available PC slot in your laptop and get 2 or 4 USB ports instead.

The laptop freezes when moved or lifted. When the laptop is on a table and not touched, it works fine. The laptop freezes only when moved.

Possible cause:

1. Poor connection between memory module and motherboard.
2. Faulty memory slot.
3. Faulty motherboard.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

When the laptop freezes if moved or lifted it’s likely that the problem is somehow connected to the memory module/modules.

Maybe one of the memory modules is not making good contact with the memory slot, or the slot itself is faulty.

Here’s how you can troubleshoot the problem.
1. Try reconnecting memory modules and test if it fixes the problem.
2. Test the laptop with each memory module installed into each slot separately. Move or lift the laptop and see if you can find the failure pattern. If the laptop works fine with both modules installed into the slot A but freezes with both modules installed into the slot B, most likely the slot B is bad.
If one of the memory slots is bad, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard or use it with only one memory modules installed into the good slot.

If reconnecting or moving memory modules from one slot to another doesn’t help and the laptop still freezes, most likely there is a problem with the motherboard. Apparently, there is a faulty solder joint somewhere on the motherboard. When you move or lift the laptop, you actually flex the motherboard and because of that it fails and freezes the system.

The laptop freezes when network cable plugged in. After you hard power down and restart the laptop, it works fine until the network cable plugged in again.

Possible cause:

1. Defective network cable.
2. Corrupted software.
3. Motherboard failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

1. Try another network cable. Maybe your cable is defective and has to be replaced.

2. Try reinstalling the network adapter driver. The driver can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website.

3. If reinstalling the network driver doesn’t help, try reinstalling the operating system from scratch. Back up personal files and reinstall the operating system from the recovery disc or installation CD. Download and install the network adapter driver if it’s missing. Test the laptop again.

4. If you still experiencing the same problem even after reinstalling the operating system, most likely this is the motherboard failure. In most laptop the network port is soldered directly to the motherboard. If that’s the case, you’ll have to replace the motherboard.

Alternatively, you can try using the laptop with a PCMCIA network card. Plug this card into the available PC slot and get a new network port instead.

The laptop turns on, starts loading Windows and freezes at the loading page. The only way to turn the laptop off is hard power down.

Possible cause:

1. Memory failure.
2. Corrupted software.
3. Hard drive failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

This problem could be related to the memory failure. Here are some things you can try:
- Download and run Memtest86+ memory test. If you are getting errors, the laptop has bad memory.
- If you have only one memory module installed, try moving it into the empty slot and test the laptop. If the laptop still fails, try replacing the memory module.
- If you have two memory modules installed, remove them one by one and run Memtest86+ (Google it) with each module installed separately. Find the faulty module and replace it.

If reconnecting and replacing memory doesn’t help, this could be software related problem. Back up all personal files using an external USB enclosure and reinstall Windows from scratch.

There is a chance that you have faulty hard drive. Turn on the laptop and listen for sounds coming from the hard drive. If the hard drive makes repetitive clicking sounds before the laptop freezes, most likely you have a faulty hard drive. Replace the hard drive with a new one.

You can test the hard drive with utilities found on Ultimate Boot CD (Google it). Burn this utility on a CD, boot the laptop from the CD and run hard drive diagnostic utility.

The laptop freezes randomly for a few seconds. After a while it starts working properly but eventually freezes up again. Time intervals between these failures may vary.

Possible cause:

1. Software related problem (spyware or virus).
2. Failing hard drive.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

First of all, scan your laptop for viruses and spyware. Remove any malware and test the laptop again.

If the laptop still freezes intermittently, back up all personal data and try reinstalling the operating system from scratch.

It’s possible that this intermittent freezing is related to the hard drive failure. Listen for sounds coming from the hard drive when the laptop freeze up. If the hard drive makes repetitive clicking sounds, most likely it’s failing.

In some cases, reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling software from scratch fixes the problem. If not, you’ll have to replace the hard drive with a new one.

The laptop is booting and running very slow. It takes a few minutes to boot to the desktop. The laptop was way faster when you bought it.

Possible cause:

1. Software related problem.
2. Not enough memory installed.
3. Failing hard drive.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

This could be a software related problem. It’s possible that you have too many programs loading on startup at the same time. If the laptop was fast before and very slow now, you can try reinstalling the operating system from scratch. Back up all personal files and run the recovery disc. Reimage the hard drive back to factory defaults. Most likely reimaging the laptop will make it faster.

Also, it’s possible that your laptop needs more memory. Take a look at the system properties and find out how much memory you have installed. For Windows XP I would recommend at least 1GB. For Windows Vista at least 3GB. Installing more memory will speed up your laptop.

If you have enough memory installed and reinstalling the operating system doesn’t help, it’s likely that you have a failing hard drive. Does your hard drive make grinding noise or clicking sounds? If it does, you’ll have to replace it with a new one.

When you turn on the laptop, it starts loading the operating system but then makes grinding noise and freezes. Sometimes the laptop works fine for a while, but on the next reboot it makes grinding noise and freezes again.

Possible cause:

Hard drive failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

Listen for the grinding noise. Most likley it’s coming from the hard drive area and it means the hard drive is failing.
If you still can boot to the desktop, back up all personal files as soon as possible and do not store anything important on the laptop. The hard drive may fail completely any moment.

Replace the failing hard drive with a new one and reinstall the operating system from the recovery disc.