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Computer Shutdown

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by arichart

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About 2 months ago, I had the lapton sitting on a blanket and running. Computer automatically shut down. I am assuming that it simply overheated. Since then, when doing processor-intensive tasks (running Windows XP Pro) such as loading songs onto iPod or simply running a system cleanup, the laptop will again, shut down abruptly. Obviously, this is highly annoying. Is there a chance that I 'cooked' the processor to the point that anything taxing will overheat it? Or is there a possibility that I could add thermal grease? Also, the battery is basically toast too. If I travel any distance, battery is basically dead and has to remain plugged in constantly. Could that be causing this issue??? Any help is greatly appreciated as I don't really want to plunk down $1K for a new laptop just yet.

6 replies

by maevinn

Do you hear the fan running, ever? A number of laptops have had problems with the fans dying, which then results in heating issues. If it's still under warranty, they'll replace the fan--and you can have them check the battery too. Batteries can be replaced, though you'll likely have to pay for it.

by mjd420nova

If you are technically inclined, I'd check the heat sink compound on top of the CPU, the one time over heating may have caused it to leak and loose its full capacity. While in there, I'd check and clean the fan too. I have had one unit that sucked up some threads from a blanket and stalled the fan. Got hot quick and toasted the battery. Did the battery "BULGE" a little? If so, I'd replace it.

by kw_ng

I had similar problem before. It depends on your specs. If you are using a Pentium then I think it should be quite OK because Pentium safety features to prevent the CPU from damage due to overheating. Only Pentium-4 or Pentium-4M have tendency to overheat. Pentium Centrino should have less overheating problem. Is a tricky problem? It could be due to fan but there may be a setting at C-MOS (setup) that allows you to set the shutdown temperature. However, if there is a temperature setting, it would risky to increase that temperature setting. I use to install speedfan (software from http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php) to let me know my laptop temperature so that I knew when I should cool it down with a fan or shut it down when it overheat. Hope that will help.

by hal 9000

First thing I would do is check that the fan is actually running. Quite often the fan/s are on the bottom of NB and when you sit them on fabric surfaces the fabric gets sucked up and blocks off the fan. Blankets can suck fibres into the unit and stop the fan from running and if not attended to quickly can prove expensive to repair.

If the fan is running but slowly you can get a NB Cooler that sits under the NB and is powered off a USB Port and it sends air around under the NB allowing the intake fan to keep the CPU within the Working Limits. there is an example of one here

http://tinyurl.com/mq5j7

If the Fan/s is not running when the unit is powered on you need to replace it immediately and depending on how it is mounted this can be expensive as quite often the entire bottom plate needs to be replaced.

Col

by dumphrey

A friend of mine received a laptop from an aquaitance. It was given to him because it was shutting off every time she used it. Turns out all the internal grills and heatsink were covered in cathair and so were not performing as expected. He cleaned out the grills, blew off the heatsink and fans, and like magic, the laptop is back to perfect. Open it up and see if its just plain dirty.

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