Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Laptop overheating - best way to keep it cool? Any devices?

  • 18-09-2009 6:21pm
    #1
    eskimo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 682 ✭✭✭


    Hey,

    My laptop has a habit of overheating. And recently it has started to just cut off very randomly. It has done it about five times in the past two weeks. I'll be lucky if it hasn't cut off by the time I finish this post!

    I don't know if that particular problem is caused be the overheating, but I do need to find a way to keep it cool from now on. Does anybody know any good methods? I've seen those laptop trays that have cooling fans in them. Are they any use, and can you recommend any particular brand or model?

    Thanks!


Comments

  • #2
    Effluo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,890 ✭✭✭Effluo


    yeah well when you say you laptop has a history of overheating what exactly do you mean? It could well be overheating with it's random shutdowns, but i wouldn't rule out other hardware or even operating system malfunction. Perhaps you may have installed a new piece or hardware recently? A new usb device, or maybe even just updated the driver of an existing component...
    For now we'll stay with overheating

    Well i know they're called "lap"tops but the fans are usually at the bottom of them, so actually having them on you lap could be blocking the airflow and thus overheating whatever is overheating...

    Dust? I've heard of people having to take the dust out of their computers maybe you could open her up and have a bit of a goo to see if there's some dust demons a lurking...

    Other than that it may be a good idea if you actually check to see if one of the fans might have even stopped working altogether...

    I had a Dell laptop which had the same kind of problem, completley random shutdowns. It ended up being the battery, took out the battery and hey presto no more problems(except it's no longer portable).


  • #3
    eskimo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 682 ✭✭✭eskimo


    Thanks Effluo. I actually recently bought a (non-Dell) replacement battery on ebay, and it has been working perfectly. I don't know if the random shut-downs are due to this new battery. It is possible, I guess, but I hope that's not the case. The company had 100% postive feedback from what I remember (I'll never make the mistake again of assuming anything above 99% positive feedback means the company is definitely trustworthy.)

    Regarding the over-heating, I found a tip online that has worked wonders since I tried it yesterday, and that is to fill a hot-water bottle with cool water and sit the laptop on it. It cooled the extremely-hot base of the laptop down dramatically almost instantly.

    I may stick with this rather than buying a fan pad, coz they'd obviously take up more power.

    With regards to the random shut-downs, the only thing new I've done lately is insert that new battery. The laptop is over 2 years old, so it could be just an age thing either. I'll investigate the potentially-broken fan issue, and the dust.

    Thanks for your advice.


  • #4
    Ru
    Closed Accounts Posts: 213 ✭✭Ru


    eskimo wrote: »
    I may stick with this rather than buying a fan pad, coz they'd obviously take up more power

    You shouldn;t have to stick with it, especially as it makes you portable computer a little less...portable.

    check the manufacuteres support site, it's fairly common for their to be a software fix, usually by updating the Bios, or graphics drivers


  • #5
    Abelloid
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,495 ✭✭✭Abelloid


    An OS re-install has sorted my old Dell lappy out in the past. You can hear when they become bloated as the fan runs constantly, even when sitting idle.


  • #6
    dazzday
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 700 ✭✭✭dazzday


    From what i can see, the random shutdowns seem to be the inbuilt safety feature that occurs when the laptop gets TOO hot.

    First thing you should do is find a program that will measure your system temperatures such as Hmonitor or SpeedFan. Now compare these to published results for your model online...you can now see an accurate result on just how much your laptop is overheating. If its hitting over 90-100 degrees under load we have a problem.

    Buy compressed air and give the laptop fans and heatsink a good clean...90% of the case this will be the problem.

    Check for driver and bios updates. As was mentioned sometimes updating gpu drivers etc can cause heat problems.

    Google a guide to "Undervolting"... an easier and safer then it looks method to drop laptop temps by easily 10 degrees.


  • Advertisement
Advertisement