Laptop shuts off overnight/after a few hours even when performing tasks

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peppergomez

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Sep 15, 2011
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I have an Alienware Area 51 laptop and Windows 11. The laptop battery was getting old and bulging so I removed it and am using the laptop plugged directly into the power

I have my windows power settings set to never shut the laptop down or put it in Standby when it is plugged in. But I notice that it continually shuts down after a few hours even when it's doing operations like copying several terabytes from one drive to another. I would like to have it running overnight so I can get these file transfers done quickly. But when I wake up in the morning it's shut off. Even though the file copy is not nearly complete.

I'm wondering if perhaps the laptop not having a battery is messing up the power settings forcing the laptop to shut down after a few hours. I have no idea. I'm not going to invest in replacement battery since I plan to build a new system q one of next year.

Can anyone offer any suggestions on how I might troubleshoot this to stop it from shutting down after a few hours?
 
I think the power event should show in event viewer.

You can possibly see if it's hibernating or losing power. If it was crashing I'd expect it to reboot, not stay off.

Does this list anything interesting? Paste it into an Administrator PowerShell prompt.

Code: 
$logs = Get-EventLog -LogName System -Source User32
$logs | Select-Object TimeGenerated, Message | Sort-Object TimeGenerated | Format-List
 
Last edited:
  1. Check Event Viewer for any relevant logs
  2. Run a memory test such as memtest86+ or the built in Windows memory diagnostic
  3. Test the boot drive with a smartctl long test
  4. sfc /scannow
  5. DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
 
Check the BIOS. I've worked on some Dell laptops that allow you to specify hibernation settings directly in the BIOS. These settings will override whatever you have set in Windows.

Also, many/most Dell laptops will have a battery saver option in the BIOS that limits the max charge to 65-85%. That's because when the battery just sits at 100% for long periods of time, it will degrade the battery. If you mainly leave the laptop plugged in all day, then you should enable this, and then only disable it if you are actually going to take the laptop somewhere. This would prevent the new battery from bulging if you replace it.
 
I had a friends LT with weird crash problems. I would reinstall Win and it would seem fine but he would still get crashes. I finally got fed up and dismantled it and there was a firm dust bunny stuck in the cooling. I had air blasted it before and thought it was clear. It worked 100% after I pulled that bunny out. No more seemly random crashes.
 
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