Big John wrote:
> I have been running my Toshiba M--35X-S239 for just a little over three 
> years (which puts it ou of warranty) and today when I opened the lid to 
> turn it on, the fan came on and I got the  bar across the bottom 
> indicating that it was coming out of hibernation, then it suddenly 
> stopped, the screen went black and the fan turned off. The power button 
> still shows that it is on, and the lights across the front are all on, 
> indicating a full battery and tha the computer is on - but nothing else.

        I am probably not the best one to give you advice on a laptop since I 
do not own one, but I will suggest a few things:

        First I would try to boot to a disk other than the hard drive.  A CD or 
floppy if your computer has one would work if the CMOS setup has them 
listed in the boot sequence before the hard drive.  If the computer 
boots properly to a drive other than the hard drive, it could mean the 
hard drive is corrupted.  A driver or a critical file for Windows could 
cause your computer to stop like you described.
> 
> I tried to turn it off by closing the lid, but that doesn't work,  Then 
> I tried to turn it off by holding down the power button - but it won't 
> go off!!
> Only way to turn it off is to remove the battery!

        Can you enter CMOS and does the screen stay present as long as you are 
in CMOS?  I assume you have not changed anything in CMOS since the 
computer booted properly?  Write back with the results of the experiment 
above and any additional info.  One can never have too many facts even 
if they seem unimportant at the time.


> 
> Any ideas on what I may do before I take it in to the "Geek Squad". I 
> think their standard price is about $90 just to open it up then the 
> charges for repair.!!
> 
> I might think that it was a bad screen, but it was good and "strong" 
> before today, and the fact that I can't shut it down without removing 
> the battery makes me think it may be the power control software. 
> Warranty is out by a couple of months!! Grrrrrr!!
> 
> Big John