Lightroom causes laptop to shutdown

[Langsey]

I have a problem when importing photos into LR. During the downloading photos the computer shutsdown. I have tried several times. It will import some photos and other times it won't import any photos before shutting down. What is the cause? What is the solution? I have tried ctrl+alt+shift at LR startup to purge the preferences. This doesn't work. I am using XP Pro on a Laveno laptop. Thanks in advance.

John

[Jeremy Payne]

I have a problem when importing photos into LR. During the downloading photos the computer shutsdown. I have tried several times. It will import some photos and other times it won't import any photos before shutting down. What is the cause? What is the solution? I have tried ctrl+alt+shift at LR startup to purge the preferences. This doesn't work. I am using XP Pro on a Laveno laptop. Thanks in advance.

John

If I were having this problem ... and I was pretty sure that there was nothing else going on ... I would try to uninstall and re-install LR.

[madmanchan]

Which version of LR? (2.3?)

[Langsey]

Which version of LR? (2.3?)

2.3

[HickersonJasonC]

2.3 seems be the most unstable of all versions since the original release. Definitely the most unstable software I have ever had to rely on or daily use.

[John.Murray]

Is the shutdown sudden or uncontrolled, or a normal shutdown?  Check the event logs (Start | Run | eventvwr.exe) specifically Application and System logs . . . .

Also, you mention this occurs while downloading photos - presumably via USB?  I've seen bad USB hardware / drivers / shorted or damaged connectors  cause issues like you describe.  To isolate, try copying files off of USB media onto your laptop drive, then import into LR from there . . . .

hth - John

[joedecker]

I have a problem when importing photos into LR. During the downloading photos the computer shutsdown. I have tried several times. It will import some photos and other times it won't import any photos before shutting down. What is the cause? What is the solution? I have tried ctrl+alt+shift at LR startup to purge the preferences. This doesn't work. I am using XP Pro on a Laveno laptop. Thanks in advance.

Does it take some number of minutes before it shuts down?  If you look under (for Windows) Power Options in the Control Panel, it may be that your system is set to shut down after a few minutes of you not typing/etc.  I'm sure there's a close equivalent to this idea for Macs as well.

--j

[Langsey]

Does it take some number of minutes before it shuts down?  If you look under (for Windows) Power Options in the Control Panel, it may be that your system is set to shut down after a few minutes of you not typing/etc.  I'm sure there's a close equivalent to this idea for Macs as well.

--j

Joe, there is no warning. I am starting to think it is heat problem. The bottom is awfully hot. I am going to get a can of compressed air to clean the fin area. When get back home, I will open the laptop and do good cleaning of the fan. Looking at the fan opening I don't see any noticeable dust. Hope that does the trick. It was starting to shut down with LR closed. At first, it just started shutting down with LR. I was on the laptop for the while. Hope it is not more than a good cleaning.

John

[Jeremy Payne]

Joe, there is no warning. I am starting to think it is heat problem. The bottom is awfully hot. I am going to get a can of compressed air to clean the fin area. When get back home, I will open the laptop and do good cleaning of the fan. Looking at the fan opening I don't see any noticeable dust. Hope that does the trick. It was starting to shut down with LR closed. At first, it just started shutting down with LR. I was on the laptop for the while. Hope it is not more than a good cleaning.

John

I had the same issue with my Lenovo t60p ... if that's it, cleaning the fan will help enormously ...

I got to the point where I would power up and within 5 minutes it would get so hot that it powered down.

After I started using air to clean the fans, it was like a new machine.

NB ... be careful the first time you blow the air ... A LOT of dust will come out and it will be very fine and really nasty to breathe ...

[Langsey]

I had the same issue with my Lenovo t60p ... if that's it, cleaning the fan will help enormously ...

I got to the point where I would power up and within 5 minutes it would get so hot that it powered down.

After I started using air to clean the fans, it was like a new machine.

NB ... be careful the first time you blow the air ... A LOT of dust will come out and it will be very fine and really nasty to breathe ...

Jeremy,
I have the T60p.  Did you open up the laptop or just blow the opening? Is it hard to open up the laptop? I have to let it sit off for a few minutes before restarting. Thank you.
John

[Jeremy Payne]

Jeremy,
I have the T60p.  Did you open up the laptop or just blow the opening? Is it hard to open up the laptop? I have to let it sit off for a few minutes before restarting. Thank you.
John

I did it all without having to open the casing.   I blew compressed air into every "orifice" I could.  Fan, network jacks, pcmcia slots ... if there was an opening, I blew in air ... and dust came FLYING out.

I own several Thinkpads ... the t60p was the only one to shutdown, but all the others (a W500, a t42p and a t40p) suffered from the problem to some extent. Even though the t42p wasn't shutting down, it got REAL hot and performance suffered until I cleaned it.

If you keep them clean, you can actually comfortably work with them on your lap without burning yourself!  

Glad you figured this out and I'm only sorry I missed the fact that you were on a Lenovo laptop in the first post ...

[Langsey]

I have cleaned the fan on the laptop. It has solved the problem. I am now downloading photos into lightroom with no shutdowns.  

John

[TroySmith80]

I'm having this problem also. Not heat related for me. I have never had a heat related problem with this computer ever. When it shuts down during a LR import, it does so in a controlled, intentional manner. The screen fades out gently, then it takes a moment to do its thing before the computer actually turns off. It's not like it just shuts off suddenly like it lost power or something.

It usually does this during the middle of an import. It doesn't do it every time, i'm not sure of any particular circumstances that cause it, and i cannot recreate it.

I'm running an HP DV2500t series laptop with a bunch of usb peripherals (keyboard, mouse, external drive, external cardreaders, etc) and a Dell external monitor. The lid to the laptop is closed. It's never shut down on me like that in any other software, only Lightroom. I'm using LR 2.3 but am currently downloading an update.

[madmanchan]

LR can induce sustained CPU activity over a long period of time (e.g., during an import of many images, since it's building previews from raw files). It sounds like your laptop believes it's overheating and is taking precautionary measures. Just because you have not experienced a heat problem previously with other applications does not rule out the possibility that this is a heat-related issue.