Boot problem

[Gabis1207]

What's happening:

When I cold-boot my laptop (an Acer Aspire, model 5733z-4477, Windows 7, 64bit) from a 'shutdown', 'hibernate', or an overheat (which is probably the most common), I hear the CD drive spin up and the CPU fan kick on. Shortly thereafter, the screen comes on, displays the "Acer" logo, and then everything goes dead. The screen shuts off, the fan spins down, and then the process starts all over.

additional info:

• The problem seems to have started after uninstalling Virtual CloneDrive, by SlySoft, which I used to mount .ISOs, since Win7 doesn't natively support that (to my knowledge).
• The boot - shutdown - repeat cycle appears to go on indefinitely, unless either I unplug it and pull the battery, or, (and I'm being serious here) I tip the laptop on its side, and hold the ESC key. Really.
• Occasionally, (by that, I mean 'rarely') the laptop boots normally, as if nothing were wrong.

I am getting sick of the circus act that I'm required to perform to use my laptop. Does anyone know what might be causing this problem, and how I can fix it (No, getting a new laptop isn't an option)?

Thanks in advance,
Gabis

 

[David Shevchenko]

So obviously its a Hardware problem Got that far! When you tip you laptop is there a certain sound that you can hear?

 

[Gabis1207]

Okay, I do tip the laptop on its side to get it to boot, but as long as I keep the CPU fan vent at least 6 inches away from a surface (which tipping it on its side most definitely achieves ) it increases the chance of it booting successfully. I'm not so sure it's a hardware problem, since my laptop hasn't recieved any further (noteworthy) abuse for several weeks before this started happening. The reboot after uninstalling Virtual Clone Drive was problematic though, so that's where my suspicions are.

To answer your question, though, no there is no little-pieces sound coming from the laptop when it moves.

 

[Joe C]

It sounds like it getting in a shutdown loop. (shuts down and starts again on it's own)
A software conflict can be a cause for this. Try starting your laptop in safe mode (tap the F8 key during the boot up but before windows logo starts) and run it like that for a while. After running it try the shutdown and see if it boots back up on it's own.

As to the boot up issue, how long has it been since you cleaned out the cpu's heatsink?

 

[Gabis1207]

It sounds like it getting in a shutdown loop. (shuts down and starts again on it's own)
A software conflict can be a cause for this. Try starting your laptop in safe mode (tap the F8 key during the boot up but before windows logo starts) and run it like that for a while. After running it try the shutdown and see if it boots back up on it's own.

As to the boot up issue, how long has it been since you cleaned out the cpu's heatsink?

It doesn't boot up on its own, rather when I try to get it to boot, it starts, shuts down, starts again, shuts down again, starts again, etc.

I've never actually cleaned the heatsink, since the screws on the shell have generous amounts of Threadlok.

 

[Joe C]

When you plug in the power brick, does the charging light on the laptop come on?

 

[Gabis1207]

Yes. Charger works fine.

 

[Joe C]

Have you tried removing the battery and seeing if it can start on just the power brick?

 

[Gabis1207]

As I type this response, I'm attempting to balance the battery on my head.