This is a year-old Dell Latitude 5500. At around 95% battery, it suddenly shut down. Pressing the power button causes the power lights to flash, sometimes for a fraction of a second, sometimes for a few seconds. Sometimes, the keyboard lights turn on, and it boots to Desktop. I would say that it boots around 1 in 20 attempts. The first time this happened, it almost immediately shut down again. The second time, it was able to stay on, until I closed the screen, and it should down again. On one occasion, it showed a "time of day not set error", with several menu options. Another time, it said that "Windows could not boot properly", this time with a graphical menu. What could be the issue?
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Sounds like it's running too hot. Are the fan vents clear and unobstructed? Leave it to cool off, boot and install something like Speccy to check your CPU temperature.– spikey_richieCommented Dec 11, 2020 at 11:37
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@spikey_richie I didn't think of that, but it actually seems like the fan is not spinning, as it's completely silent. However, it does not feel hot at all. I would install Speccy if I was able to get it to boot and stay on ;)– Al2110Commented Dec 11, 2020 at 11:38
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OK, if you can get into the BIOS then set an aggressive fan speed (max 100% all the time if you can) to at least help confirm the problem. Otherwise, you'll need to pop the hood and replace the fan.– spikey_richieCommented Dec 11, 2020 at 11:43
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Ok. Interestingly, when I loosened the back screws, it seemed to boot, and stay on for longer. Also, (probably a silly question), why does it not feel hot to touch if it is overheating?– Al2110Commented Dec 11, 2020 at 11:44
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Because it's the middle of the CPU that's overheating, which doesn't dissipate to the chassis. Once a core exceeds its TDP it'll force a shutdown.– spikey_richieCommented Dec 11, 2020 at 12:10
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