Overheating
 

My laptop is shutting down at various times when running multiple programs. I have a laptop that is very current in RAM and processor speed, so I suspect that the issue is overheating. When it shuts down I can hear the fan as loud as it can be and the bottom of the laptop gets very hot. The computer then shuts down and works just fine in a few minutes after it cools.

I know nothing about cooling, are there any suggestions? If you need further information ask away.

Thanks.

EDIT: When I first got the laptop this happened very rarely. I could run many, many programs at once with no problem (The comp would still get hot but no shutdown) but now it seems it happens everytime I run a PT import (into a large database) and something else at the same time. Is there some kind of degrading that could be happening?

Re: Overheating
 

you can check if it is overheating simply
download this program
http://www.download.com/SpeedFan/300...ml?tag=lst-0-1

its free and it should tell you the heat of your processor and any other sensors you have(it doesnt work with some systems and dont play with the clocking part unless you know what ur doing)

this program also allows you to control the speed of your fans. Most new comps have a feature to slow the fans down after start up, so you can put them back up to 100% to keep everything cool

Re: Overheating
 

I have to used compressed air to blow out my laptop periodically. There may be "service ports" on the bottom that allow you to remove a few screws and blast air into heatsinks. If it's hard to take off, it's not a service port [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Most laptops rely on passive cooling through the keyboard to keep things in spec, blast that out with air too.

If you need to you should be able to go into the BIOS and reduce the speed at which the processor runs. "Throttling" or "Duty" are usually used to describe this function. This is a crappy option obviously, you paid for a fast computer.

I recently had problems with my computer "overheating", it turned out the battery was causing failures/reboots. Quick and dirty to test, just remove the battery and run the machine.

Re: Overheating
 

Okay, so I downloaded the program and my comp was running at 65C with no programs open. I blew out the service ports with compressed air and out came literally a handful of dust and junk. I then rebooted the comp and ran the program and it is now running noticibly quiter and cooler at about 40C. Hope this is permanent.

Thanks for the help.

Re: Overheating
 

3dcool.com also makes laptop exhaust fans that fit in your PCMIA slot. It can help, because even newer model laptops can get quite hot. How nasty was the stuff the compress air got out of there?

Re: Overheating
 

[ QUOTE ]
Okay, so I downloaded the program and my comp was running at 65C with no programs open. I blew out the service ports with compressed air and out came literally a handful of dust and junk. I then rebooted the comp and ran the program and it is now running noticibly quiter and cooler at about 40C. Hope this is permanent.

Thanks for the help.

[/ QUOTE ]

Holy [censored], 65 deg. Cel is pretty hot!

You might want to get a laptop cooler from Antec - they have grills that sit under your computer that have two fans, powered by a passthrough USB connection. It has the added bonus of elevating your laptop so you can type much easier.

Re: Overheating
 

Blow it out again in a couple days. You probably didn't get every last bit and it can dislodge from fan use. Blow it out periodically, every 6 months is probably good.

And yeah, 65 is WICKED hot, 40 appears to be on the low side for laptops now.