Hey,
i have a toshiba satellite pro A210 running windows XP,
First off it keeps turning off, if i try to start it back up it turns on for a second the back off, if i leave it for like 5 minutes it might make it to the windows loading screen, if i leave it for an hour i can use it for 15 etc...

so the longer i leave it off, the longer i can use it before it automatically switches off.. its switchng off like it has a flat battery... (But it dosent)

Also it wont boot without the battery (even with external power)
And wont boot without external power (With battery)

Its Making a ticking noise (jjust under 1second gap between ticks)
and its only a little louder than a watch..

also every second tick my Hdd light on my laptop flashes, like its in time with it..

All these problems started at the same time so im guessing there related..

Whats wrong with my laptop??

Thanks

Ticking noise aside, it sounds like its overheating.

Thats why it works for a fair while when you first boot it up after a long off period (and thus its cold), and then only restarts briefly once its overheated. As you leave it off for a while, it cools down a little more and it stays on a little more.

You need to bust open that case and clean out the heatsink. Normally theres a panel on the bottom of the laptop somewhere near the edge that unscrews and will allow access to the heatsink. Look for the grille on the side of the case that the hot air exhausts from and it'll be in that region.

Once you've got it open, look for the dirty fins. It will probably look like a mat it will be so thick with dust. Pull off the mat, blow a bit of compressed hair (or vaccum it) to clean it up, reassemble and bobs ya uncle.

If youre feeling really keen, unscrew the heatsink, clean up the thermal paste on the CPU with a tissue, reapply some thermal paste (from RS Components or similiar, should be all of $2.00) in a fairly thin (but even) layer over the CPU, refasten heat sink, replace panel and voila - a cool running laptop.

The tick is possibly the HDD starting as the CPU cools, and then immediately powering down again. Or its in some sort of idle mode that occurs when the CPU gets turned off due to heat.

Have you tried pulling out the hard drive and putting it into a external enclosure and trying it on another computer.

Something ticking to me usually sounds like the hard drive has busted itself. Computer doesn't know where to go so it just shuts down.

spend a few extra dollars and get the 25% silver thermal paste. performs a bit better. I am agreeing that it is an overheating issue...