If you have a laptop that is a few years old and it has been through the grind, there is a good chance that it may be experience overheating problems.
You need to understand that because they need to be portable, a laptop’s hardware components will tend to fail quicker than a desktop computer.
Laptop Overheating Symptoms
- Freeze or crash 15 to 30 minutes after starting up.
- Freezes when performing something that is processor intensive such as watching a video or another task that is very taxing on the laptop’s processor.
- The bottom of the laptop may get too hot to rest on your legs while using it.
Step 1 – Check the Fan and Vents
Take a moment to locate the vent where the fan blows air out of the laptop and put your hand in front of it to see if there is any air coming out.
Also check the vent for any dust or dirt buildup. Don’t be afraid to use canned air or your sweeper to clear the dust from the vent.
If you find that the fan does not seem to be working, then in most cases you should either call the Manufacturer’s technical support line or take the laptop to a trusted local professional to replace the laptop fan. Changing out a fan in a laptop is no easy task.
AWESOME TROUBLESHOOTING TIP
One sure-fire way to pin point overheating as the reason your laptop keeps freezing, is to boot your computer and enter the system setup. This can be done usually by hitting F2 or delete. (This varies depending on the brand of laptop you have)
Once you have entered the System Setup, just let your laptop sit there and run. If it eventually freezes up, then I will bet you have overheating issues.
Step 2 – Use the ‘Prop-up’ Test
What you want to do here is to make sure there is sufficient air-flow around the whole laptop.
Try taking a book or another flat object that is at least one inch high and try resting the back end of the laptop on it while using it. This will allow for air circulation underneath the laptop.
Step 3 – Check the Temps
There are a couple of different ways that you can monitor the temperatures of things like your CPU temperature and fan speeds.
Use the BIOS
If you enter into the laptops BIOS, in most cases you can check the CPU temperature and the fan speeds by going into the advanced menus. You want to make sure the fans are spinning at a high RPM and that the temperatures are within the ranges specified by your CPU manufacturer.
Use 3rd Party Software
There are a few good pieces of software out there that you can download and use to monitor such things as:
- CPU temperature
- Hard drive temperature
- Voltage levels
- Fan speeds
I would recommend the following software:
Buy A Laptop Cooling Pad
Another option you have would be to purchase a laptop cooling mat.
There are a ton of manufactures out there such as: ThermaPAK, Belkin and Eforcity. Some models will actually have fans built into them and others pride themselves on design and the materials they are made of to do the cooling. The ones without fans will not require power and be more Eco-friendly.
I would just recommend doing your homework on these before buying one.