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My IBM T60 laptop (running Windows XP Proefssional SP3) shuts down, a hard shut down. When I reboot, the splash screen comes up and then an error window comes up stating that I have a choice of continuing with the regular boot or going back to a previous configuration that was good. It seems no matter which choice I pick, the machine continues but when the Windows boot screen comes up, it is very faint, as if the inverter is damaged.

I then hard shut down the machine and reboot. Usually after rebooting two or three times - using "previous configuration" (or sometimes, "regular boot") - the machine suddenly boots as normal and the issue seems to be gone.

This problem happened today for the first time in three months, but has occurred in total at least ten times in the last 18 months.

Does anyone have a possible solution?

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I have a customer that has the same error. The accumulator is completely drained here, though. Is the same thing the case here? – sinni800 Jul 14 '11 at 20:37
I do not understand. How would I check this? Do you check it after it happens or what? Thanks for your response. – Xavierjazz Jul 14 '11 at 20:53
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Re-seat the memory modules. – Moab Jul 14 '11 at 21:00
@Moab. Thanks, I carefully and nervously did this after downloading instructions. Put it all back together and re-booted. Everything is working!! So happy. I hope that is the solution. +1. Thanks. – Xavierjazz Jul 14 '11 at 23:08
@Moab. Please post your comment as an answer so I can accept it if I have no further problems. (Explorer crashed 2 times today before I found your instructions). Fingers crossed. Regards, – Xavierjazz Jul 14 '11 at 23:12
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2 Answers

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Try re-seating the memory modules.

T60 service manual

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Since re-seating the memory modules, there has been no problem. +1 plus accept. Thanks. – Xavierjazz Jul 22 '11 at 16:58
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Sounds very much like a power problem.

When this happens, is the battery at a particularly low charge? Are you connected to mains power? What is the condition of your battery, has your laptop run largely on mains power without draining and recharging the battery every so often?

Try fully draining your battery, then do a full recharge while the laptop is powered off. Bring the machine online and confirm that the battery charge is reported correctly.

Also, ensure windows is properly configured to notify you of low battery conditions - if battery notifications are not displayed, or battery information is not available to windows you can see this kind of hard shutdown. If your battery is older than a couple of years and has not been well maintained you might see the last 15 to 20% of power run down in the space of a few minutes.

If you have access to another mains power supply for that model of laptop try that - your mains PSU could be faulty.

Also, if this happens again, check the temperature of your mains PSU - some will trip out when they get too hot, and combined with a battery holding a poor charge this can cause similar symptoms.

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Thanks. I am 99% sure this is not a power supply problem. I replaced the battery about 2 months ago and everything checks out. I am hopeful that Moab's answer does the trick. – Xavierjazz Jul 14 '11 at 23:10
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If it's genuinely a memory problem, it's more likely to be a faulty module than a mis-seated one. Reseating may appear to do the trick, but more likely because the whole machine has cooled down. If these crashes happen only under high load, and reseating seems to work, then a faulty module is quite likely. Grab a copy of Memtest86+ and run the test cycle a few times to be absolutely sure though ... – Mike Insch Jul 14 '11 at 23:22
Thanks for being so interested. I downloaded memtest and ran it. It came out @ 100%. I then rebooted, changed the startup back to the "c" drive. The machine displayed the problem again. I rebooted restoring a previous config. Everything seems to work now. I'll let you know. +1. – Xavierjazz Jul 15 '11 at 7:22
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