a21m shutting off randomly

[dalee18]

I'm trying to install windows xp on my mother's a21m thinkpad. Four times now it has shut off out of nowhere at differing times during the install. Three times it was while loading the setup files after booting from the cd (before anything was copied to the hard drive) and once while formatting the hard drive. I've tried this both with the ac adaptor plugged in and while on battery, same thing.

Any idea what might cause this?

The fan on my T42 just died and it's at the depot for repair so this has been a really sad thinkpad week for me

[Orevin]

I have the same problem win an A21m and could use a new idea. The system shuts down a couple minutes (5-60 min). So I thought about overheating and replaced the fan. Here is what I tried so far:

- different RAM, checked both slots
- with/without MINI PCI
- with/without power adapter
- with/without battery
- changed CMOS battery
- different HD
- different optical drive

Thanks,
-Kai-

[Kane77077]

My wife's A21m shuts down randomly while in use whenever attached to the IBM power cord I purchased on eBay, but not when attached the a Targus universal notebook ac adapter (which I also purchased on Ebay for $20US+$10 shipping), so it might be an issue wth the ac adapter.

[Supporter]

My wife's A21m shuts down randomly while in use whenever attached to the IBM power cord I purchased on eBay, but not when attached the a Targus universal notebook ac adapter (which I also purchased on Ebay for $20US+$10 shipping), so it might be an issue wth the ac adapter.

^^ Good suggestion. Anytime you have a machine randomly shutting off try it on AC power only, and battery power only. If it only happens on one of the two you can start by replacing the power source.