Question Why does my Laptop restart when I move it?

[tcave17]

My laptop is an old notebook 8 or something and when I pick it up to move e.g. changing desks in class my laptop restarts and quite often I lose my work. Please help!

 

[Diddly]

Perhaps it's a dodgy battery connection. Remove the battery and see if the metal connections require cleaning - do not use any fluids!!! if the metal is discoloured at all, try rough up the surface with something slightly abrasive (1000 grit sandpaper or fine nail file). Couldn't hurt to try this on both the battery and the laptop connections. If this doesn't help try it moving the laptop when also connected to power and see if it still reboots when moved.

 

[Solandri]

Yeah, sounds like an intermittent battery connection. I'd recommend using a pencil eraser to clean any contacts, not sandpaper or a nail file.

Another possibility is a bad battery disconnect switch. Lenovo had that problem on some of its Thinkpad and Ideapad models. Since the battery is internal and always-connected, they added a manual disconnect switch to allow repair personnel to unpower the motherboard without physically disconnecting the battery. Unfortunately a batch of these switches were defective and could trigger with vibration, like when you picked up your laptop and moved it.

I haven't heard of the problem in any Samsung laptops, and not every manufacturer uses such a switch. But the Notebook 8 is from around the same time period as when Lenovo had the problem. So if Samsung used the same switches in this model, it could be suffering the same problem. If this is the cause, you'd have to contact Samsung for a fix since it involves physically removing and soldering on a new switch. Lenovo fixed it at no charge (even if the laptop was out of warranty), but I haven't heard good things about Samsung's laptop service policies.

Are you having any other problems with the battery? Such as reduced battery life, or it dying when it still shows a substantial portion of battery life remaining (usually around 40%)? In that case you may need to replace the battery. If picking up the laptop is causing any sort of spike in power consumption, that could cause a weak battery to suddenly stop powering the system. A replacement battery would fix it, but not the other two problems. And this is a rare enough model that you may be better off buying a new laptop rather than finding a replacement battery (which may not even solve the problem).

 

[tcave17]

Yeah, sounds like an intermittent battery connection. I'd recommend using a pencil eraser to clean any contacts, not sandpaper or a nail file.

Another possibility is a bad battery disconnect switch. Lenovo had that problem on some of its Thinkpad and Ideapad models. Since the battery is internal and always-connected, they added a manual disconnect switch to allow repair personnel to unpower the motherboard without physically disconnecting the battery. Unfortunately a batch of these switches were defective and could trigger with vibration, like when you picked up your laptop and moved it.

I haven't heard of the problem in any Samsung laptops, and not every manufacturer uses such a switch. But the Notebook 8 is from around the same time period as when Lenovo had the problem. So if Samsung used the same switches in this model, it could be suffering the same problem. If this is the cause, you'd have to contact Samsung for a fix since it involves physically removing and soldering on a new switch. Lenovo fixed it at no charge (even if the laptop was out of warranty), but I haven't heard good things about Samsung's laptop service policies.

Are you having any other problems with the battery? Such as reduced battery life, or it dying when it still shows a substantial portion of battery life remaining (usually around 40%)? In that case you may need to replace the battery. If picking up the laptop is causing any sort of spike in power consumption, that could cause a weak battery to suddenly stop powering the system. A replacement battery would fix it, but not the other two problems. And this is a rare enough model that you may be better off buying a new laptop rather than finding a replacement battery (which may not even solve the problem).

Sorry I forgot to clarify my Laptop is a Hewlett Packard Notebook and the Model Number is 14-g017AU

 

[tcave17]

Perhaps it's a dodgy battery connection. Remove the battery and see if the metal connections require cleaning - do not use any fluids!!! if the metal is discoloured at all, try rough up the surface with something slightly abrasive (1000 grit sandpaper or fine nail file). Couldn't hurt to try this on both the battery and the laptop connections. If this doesn't help try it moving the laptop when also connected to power and see if it still reboots when moved.

I have checked the battery and it does not seem to be dirty, I blew air into the connections and the problem seems to have stopped, I will keep you updated if the problem continues or stops.

 

[tcave17]

!Update!
The restart occurs when the laptop bumps against a desk, but rotating it 360 degrees and shaking does not cause it to restart.

 

[CompGee]

!Update!
The restart occurs when the laptop bumps against a desk, but rotating it 360 degrees and shaking does not cause it to restart.

Sounds like a dodgy battery connection. As said earlier, try pulling the battery and roughing up the connector pins with fine sand paper. When you are done, blow the metal filings off of the battery and computer to avoid shorting out the battery.

 

[tcave17]

Sounds like a dodgy battery connection. As said earlier, try pulling the battery and roughing up the connector pins with fine sand paper. When you are done, blow the metal filings off of the battery and computer to avoid shorting out the battery.

After some banging and stuff the laptop now restarts randomly and usually after it restarts the wireless wifi adaptor will not be on.

 

[CompGee]

Did it used to be on after a restart?

 

[tcave17]

Did it used to be on after a restart?

What do you mean on? After it restarts its turns back on like a normal restart but usually the computer is trying to connect to the ethernet instead of wifi leading me to believe that the wireless wifi adapter is the problem.