Laptop's shutting down w/in 1-2 minutes

[MikeLynch]

I am mystified by this problem. Hopefully someone here can shed some light.

Starting yesterday, after a perfectly functional morning in which I installed no new hardware or software, my Dell Inspiron 5100 is dying after only a minute or so (WHEN I can get logged in at all) and giving me the Blue Screen of Death.

The odd part is that the error messages reported by the BSOD vary; I've seen
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
and about three others, one of which is supposed to only happen on systems running Win2K (I'm running XP).

The filenames associated with the failure also vary. One that I remember is watchdog.sys; another was win32k.sys.

Not even safe mode is safe. There, as elsewhere, the machine either freezes up completely or goes to the BSOD. Once I even got the BSOD while I was in the middle of entering my password -- which, to me, implies it's not a software problem.

The only consistent element in this whole ordeal has been that, if I try to start it up immediately after it crashes, the light and fan come on for a moment, think about it, then shut themselves down with not even a flicker of the screen. It's making me wait several minutes before I can get it to start.

I've rescued my most critical files via a combination of network file transferring and my USB key, both of which seem to still be functioning. I also uninstalled an antivirus program that I thought might have been causing the problem, but the problem persists. I'm attempting booting from a boot disk with a BIOS upgrade on it, but I'm not even sure which BIOS version I have, and sometimes it just ignores me when I press F2.

Does anyone have any ideas about
1) what is causing this
2) how to fix it, if it can be fixed
and
3) how to be certain I've set up the boot disk thing correctly in the System Utilities ("PhoenixBIOS") DOS thingy? I don't know what that exclamation mark means when I hit Shift-F1 next to the CD-ROM (my laptop has no floppy drive).

 

[GenMarshall]

Somehow I have a feeling that you might need to reinstall Windows XP onto your computer.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Did u accidentally bump the laptop? I used to get that when i almost threw my laptop into the air and caught it. In my case i just reseated the ram and the harddrive. It says driver_irql so that means its definitely the hardware. Do you use a network card? Like one that plugs into the laptop on the side? If so, remove it and restart your comp. If that doesnt work, keep it out, and take out a stick of RAM ( if you have multiple sticks in it ). You can do this by opening the case, usually on the bottom, and just releasing one. Try to boot the system up with each one, and if it works, that means the stick you took out is probably bad. If none of that works, oyu might very well have to reinstall windwos, but thats something we all face at some point. Sorry if im just too cryptic, so here's the rundown:
1.Remove all attachment cards
2.Reboot
3.If that doesnt work, try booting with each RAM stick
4. If that doesnt work, try pulling out the harddrive, and putiing it back (blow out the dust)
5.If none of that works, consult an actual expert
6. Or just try reinstalling windwos, although if its a hardware problem, im not sure what reinstalling windows will do

 

[MikeLynch]

Problem solved:
I simply updated the BIOS. I was able to keep it alive long enough to boot from a boot disk, and now it seems MOSTLY stable.

The only thing now is that I'm getting some irritated DOS messages when I boot up, telling me things about how the system memory has been changed, but it usually boots up anyway. Once or twice it's frozen on that screen.