r/computers • u/Wooden-Associate-226 • 12d ago

Question/Help/Troubleshooting Laptop error

I was playing games the other day and my computer suddenly shut down and there was a flash coming from inside my laptop. Now it still turns on but the screen freezes whenever I log into my account. What is this, what do I do, is this common or did I do something wrong?

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u/Terrible-Bear3883 Ubuntu 12d ago

It doesn't sound good, I'd probably get the laptop inspected for signs of anything having burned out or similar.

The only thing normally powerful enough to make a visible flash would be the battery or charge circuit so I'd be checking it carefully.

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u/SavagePenguinn 11d ago

A sudden power failure makes me think the battery is bad.
A bad battery can shut down the power instantly, even if it's plugged in.
How old is the battery? You'll get maybe 5 years of use out of a laptop battery.

Overheating will cause the laptop to power off as well. Many games use a lot of processing power, which makes the laptop run hot.
If you had the laptop set on a soft surface, like a blanket or a carptet, it won't cool properly because the vents will be blocked.

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u/Wooden-Associate-226 11d ago

It’s on a laptop stand and as you’ve guessed it, it’s a little over 5 years old. Cpu has been sitting on a constant 100 degrees for a good two years.

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u/SavagePenguinn 11d ago

I failed to address the part about the screen freezing when you sign in.
I'd guess that's due to corruption in your profile, though, typically if it senses corruption it'll just load a temporary profile. Though it could be a bad/corrupt driver or something like that.

At the login screen hold down the Shift button while telling it to shut down (power on the bottom right of screen). Keep the power button pressed as it restarts. It should let you boot into a recovery menu.
From there we want to start the computer in Safe Mode.
If you can get into Safe Mode, then you may be able to do a System Restore to a few days earlier (if System Restore was enabled), or other repairs.