Compaq presario 1200xl310 freezes after it has been on for about 5 minutes. It does this with and without an operateing system. In order to turn the laptop off I have to disconnect the power and remove the battery. It will not shut off just by holding down the power button, removeing the battery and disconnecting the power is the only way it will shut down. If anyone knows what this may be please let me know. I would like to fix this laptop and give it to my kids rather than throw it away. Thanks Robert

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You can press F10 and you will get the option to take the computer to system console and then follow the steps and if you have the CD with you then follow the steps below

1 Shut down your computer and restart it. Watch for the Compaq logo, then press the "F1" key to enter setup.
2 Press the right arrow within setup to go to the Boot menu. Press the down arrow to access the "Boot Device Priority" option. Change the first boot device to CD-ROM by pressing the down arrow until "CD-ROM" is displayed.
3 Eject the CD tray and place the recovery CD that came with your computer into the tray. If you do not have a recovery CD, you can order one directly from Hewlett Packard.
4 Shut down and restart the computer. The Presario will automatically boot from the CD and begin the recovery process.
5 Select the operating system your computer shipped with. Many Compaq recovery CDs support multiple operating systems, so be sure to choose the operating system your computer shipped with.
6 Insert the operating system CD when prompted. Enter the license key for the operating system when prompted. The license key is typically found on a small tag located on the top or side of the computer.

what operating system are you trying to install.
If windows. You need the disk. Then when you switch on the computer you hold f12 or f8.(should display on the bottom of sreen)this will take you into the bios. you need to change boot order to boot from disk. Then you have to format hard drive etc. this can be quite tricky to explain. From this point i think your best option at the minute is to type what operating system you are installing into youtube. theres tons of people showing you how to install operating systems

that means your base system is working just fine but your other software is not.try to remember what type of software did u install b4 or on the first day u know your laptop frozen.....fyi, some system cannot work on vista..

You can call compaq & order a recovery cd or you could just reload an operating system.

log on to http://tinyurl.com/6zhtl9
you will get option to choose your system model

Choose your software/driver language:
Select operating system
then you will get list of drivers
go for graphic drivers
download and install them

change cmos battery

try to reseat your ram, pci modem or video card..

* format the entire hard disk and reinstall os

open up your computer, remove the battery from the motherboard, wait 5 minutes and put it back

It could be something as simple as a corrupt graphics driver. If you have currently run a Windows update for hardware, there is a chance that a generic Windows driver has been installed and is not working correctly. Go to your task bar, as there is normally a graphics programme running enabling you to set the external monitor etc. If it's there and you have lost all the usual tabs for changing different properties, then the driver will need to be downloaded from your notebook manufacturer. If all in that looks ok then click Start>Run then type 'dxdiag' and hit enter and let windows do a diagnostic test on sound and video. If it's an intermitent problem, this is normally down to overheating, so check the vents around your fan and gently give them a hoover out. Failing all; keep an eye on your processor temperature, you can download allsorts of different free programmes that will run in your taskbar.