I had a problem with my Dell Smart PC 250N of overheating and shutting off after half an hour or so. I searched over the net and as per instructions on a web site opened up the laptop, cleaned the heatsink and the CPU and applied arctic silver thermal grease to the CPU and reassembled everything, thinking that everything would be fine now! To my horror now the laptop would not boot up!
As far as I am aware I have not damaged anything knowingly, the CPU seems to fit in the slots well and have tightened the heat sink well.
What do you think has gone wrong and what is the solution? If it is a goner then how can I retrieve the tons of files from my hard drive that I foolishly did not back up before trying this stunt.
In order to boot any laptop with video you need three main components: motherboard (with video card), CPU and memory and they have to be properly connected to each other.
Make sure the memory module is making good contact with the motherboard. Try reseating the memory module.
Make sure the CPU is making good contact with the socket. It’s possible that you accidentally pulled the CPU from the socket while removing the heatsink. Remove the heatsink again, unlock the socket, reseat the CPU and LOCK the socket. Also, when the CPU is removed, take a closer look on the pins. Hopefully the pins are not damaged.
I just got a new laptop (Gateway FX series from BestBuy) and wheen I’m in the middle of playing a game or just having it on the laptop shuts down like the battery dies but I have it plugged into it’s charger ALL the time (when I’m using it). I have no clue what is wrong
I think this could be heat related problem.
1. Always keep the laptop on a flat surface. Make sure the air intakes on the bottom are open. If you close the air intakes, the laptop will overheat and shut down.
2. Listen for the cooling fan, make sure it turns on. It’s possible the fan is defective.
Although my laptop turns itself off when the fan is obscured (not good fan clearly) it turns itself off when playing games even when I raise the laptop to give the fan space. Could it be related to the processor usage related to running a game. I am sure this is not a software problem. I live in Sierra Leone and computer fixers are few and far between, what can I do myself when spare parts are not available?
I think the laptop turns off because the processor overheats. Could it be related to the processor usage related to running a game? Definitely! Higher processor usage generates more heat.
If the heatsink in your laptop is clogged with dust, raising the laptop will not help. The laptop shuts down because dust inside the heatsink kills normal airflow.
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I saw your website on how to pull apart my Toshiba Tecra S2 it was perfect as I knew what to expect as I was pulling it apart… The reason I pulled it apart was because my fan would not stop running and the laptop was running extremely hot… I could only hold my hand on the bottom for a little while before it burnt. I discovered a thick (about 3mm) blanket of dust covering the heatsink where the fan blows out the air. The main reason I was emailing you is because now I think my fan is reaching the end of it’s life. It is making some real weird noises and some rattling noises when I first start up the computer. I was wondering if you knew anywhere I could purchase a new fan for it. I have searched on Ebay just a Toshiba laptop CPU fan but I’m not sure of an exact model and who would sell it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
You can find a new replacement fan for your Tecra S2 if you google for this part number: K000023650.
I bought a Toshiba Satelite A75-209 laptop about 1 1/2 years ago. I’m doing some software development and use the laptop as a test platform to see my programs performance in a Windows XP Professional environment.
Some of the routines in my program take between 5 to 60 minutes to run. Lately, after running for about 3 to 5 minutes the laptop shuts down. I mean completely off. First suspect is overheating. OK. I put a vacuum cleaner hose near the fan and suck out the dust and dirt. For a few days this works fine. Then, the problem comes back. Vacuum again, runs fine for a few days, then shuts down. The bottom of the laptop is not that hot, but I decide to disassemble the laptop and replace the fan. Actually, there are two fans. After looking at the disassembling procedure you have I quickly realize this should not be my first option. In addition, I went on Toshiba’s website and saw that the fans cost $60 each.
In all other programs the laptop is fine (i.e. Word, Excel etc.)
If anyone else has experienced this, or can give me some pointers, I would forever be in your debt.
Thanks in advance for any help you might provide.
I think that replacing the fan is not your first option either. You’ll have to replace it only if the fan stopped spinning or if it makes noise. When you turn on the laptop, both fans should spin. You can see them through the grill on the bottom of the laptop. If both fans spin and they are not noisy, wait with the replacement, try cleaning the heatsink first.
If the heatsink in the laptop is completely clogged, a vacuum cleaner will not be able to remove the dust and dirt and make it 100% clean. A powerful air compressor would be a better option. Blowing off the heatsink with a powerful air compressor might be enough to fix the overheating problem.
When I have to clean up a laptop, I usually take it apart. When I take it apart, I clean up the heatsink and also I replace thermal grease on the CPU. In my opinion, that’s the best way get rid of overheating. You’ll find more information here: Why my Toshiba laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning?
I have a Toshiba Satellite A60 laptop and the fan is pretty much dead. The computer shuts off after 15 minutes of use. Can you tell me the model number for this fan and is there a guide to replacing it?
First of all, make sure that the laptop shuts down because of a dead fan and it’s necessary to replace it. When you turn on the laptop, does the fan start spinning? Can you here it at all? It’s very likely that the laptop shuts down because the cooling module is clogged and it needs just a good cleaning. Laptop overheating is a very common issue. I just replace a motherboard on Toshiba Satellite A65 and believe me, the heat sink was 100% clogged with lint and dust. So, I would check the heat sink and the fan first. Here’s a disassembly guide I made for Toshiba Satellite A65 laptop, it would be the same for Satellite A60. If you want to find a heat sink cooling fan for this model, look up on the Internet by the part number: V000042110.
If you want to clean up the fan and the heat sink, it would be enough to remove just the keyboard. You’ll get a good access to the cooling module so you can clean it up with compressed air. To replace the fan, you’ll have to remove to top cover and fortunately, you don’t have to remove the system board.
UPDATE: Here’s another thread dedicated to Toshiba Satellite A60 and A65 problems.
We’ve got a Dell laptop that’s been giving us different types of trouble for a long time. The battery’s been not great for a while — it takes a long time to charge, and then dies after a fairly short period. We thought we were just having a battery issue — which we certainly might be — but lately, the computer has begun to shut down (similarly to how it would if the battery died) even when plugged in. Today, it is shutting down every three or four minutes, and then won’t start up for several minutes after shutting down.
I still suspect its battery related somehow, but have no proof. Any ideas?
If it takes some time to charge the battery and then it dies after a short period of time, then it most likely the battery problem. I’ve seen it before many times and usually you can fix the problem by replacing the battery. Your second issue looks more like a laptop overheating problem and I don’t think that it’s related to a bad battery. You can remove the battery and run the laptop just on AC power. Does it still shut down? If yes, then it cannot be related to the battery because it’s removed.
An overheating problem might occur because of a clogged heatsink or a failed cooling fan (it stopped spinning). In your case I think it might be related to a failed cooling fan because it takes a very short time for the laptop to shut down. Usually, when the heatsink is clogged, the laptop still can run fine for 10-15 or even more minutes before it shuts down. Turn on the laptop and see if the cooling fan starts spinning before the laptop shuts down. Touch the laptop in the processor area. Is it unusually hot?
I’ve had my Aviator AX9 for about 2 weeks and yesterday when I was using it, it got extremely hot…and usually it doesn’t even get mildly warm. So I turned it off, let it cool down and turned it back on. And It did the same thing…so I flipped it over, took off the panel over the 2 videos cards and processor to see that none of the fans are spinning…neither was the fan next to the hard drive. Yet they all turn on right when I turn the laptop on.. they just spin for a few seconds.
Wow, I’ve never seen laptop like this before. 2 video modules, first SLI notebook! I’m not sure if I would be able to help a lot with this model.
Here is what I think. For most laptops I worked with, it’s normal that fans start spinning on startup and then they turn off after 5-7 seconds. Usually they start again when the CPU is running hot. You mentioned a fan next to the hard drive. Do you know if it’s a dedicated hard drive fan or it’s just located in the hard drive area? I think that you might have a problem with the hard drive. Sometimes when a hard drive fails, it runs very hot. It’s just a guess. I’m pretty sure that you have a warranty on this notebook, so contact them and ask to fix the problem.
Whenever I run a demanding game like Call of Duty or Godfather on my HP laptop, after a little while, I guess just enough time so the comp gets warm and starts to function at the max, it turns off by itself, quite suddenly. I suppose this is an overheating issue but I’m not sure. I do not know why this is happening suddenly because for about 8 months I have been playing Call of Duty 2 very regularly and for long periods and I have never had this sort of problem before. Perhaps I have too much stuff on the comp which makes things run slower, or perhaps a fan isn’t working properly, I do not know. If you could help me, that would be great.
I think that your guess is correct and your laptop shuts down because of an overheating issue. All computer games push the CPU to its limits and it runs much hotter then during a normal use (not playing games). If the heat sink is clogged with lint and dust, then it will not be able to dissipate all the heat coming from the CPU and the laptop will shut down. The heat sink gets clogged overtime and this is not happening just suddenly. But one day would be a critical day, and the laptop will start to shut down when the CPU is hot. You can easily fix the problem if you clean the heat sink.
If you have a lot of programs running on the background, it will make the laptop slower but it shouldn’t cause the laptop shutdowns.
I have an Acer Aspire 1520 (1525WLMi). NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5700, 64MB.
Just recently I noticed strange hot air coming out of my cooling vents on the right side of my notebook. Also, my fan has been bursting away on full power which is very uncommon. I also noticed when working with graphics, animations and while playing games that my notebook begins to lag a lot and graphics aren’t displayed properly.
I am assuming it’s due to my Graphics card and/or graphics card fan.
What advice do you have for me and are there any tools/utilities that you can refer me to in order for me to test my graphics card and graphics card fan?
I think that this problem might be related to the CPU overheating. When a processor overheats, the entire system might slow down. Animations and games require a lot of CPU power, so it runs hotter and overheats faster. That’s why the cooling fan blowing full power. Before you start testing the hard ware, check if the heat sink is clogged and clean it up. I’m not familiar with Acer laptops and not sure if you can easily access the heat sink from the bottom.