Recently my laptop's been shutting down without warning due to overheating. I've read a tip and placed a small book underneath it, but does anyone think I should buy a cooling pad for it?

If so, which one?

Thanks in advance.

They do these stands for them which increases the flow of air... Do you not have a fan in your Laptop?

I think I have.

Like I said, I've put a book under it to keep the fan in the air, but I'm unsure as to whether or not I should get a cooling mat.

I sometimes get problems with mine getting rather warm. But I can usually tell when it's getting too warm as the fan gets louder and faster, and then I move it to make sure the air intake has enough room to "breathe". There should be a grille on the bottom which is the main air intake, and one on the side which is the exhaust. Both should be free from obstacles, ideally. Believe it or not, this is why they say laptops should not be used on your lap, as the air vents get blocked in your lap. Tables can cause problems too though. My air intake is on the bottom left (as I look at the screen) so I sometimes place my laptop on the edge of the table with the left of it slightly overhanging so it can get air freely.

A good piece of software is downloadable at http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ which works with most processors - and tells you the temperature (in degrees Celcius) of your CPU. Mine tends to hover around 50 / 60 C when it's happy, 70 C when it's working harder or if the air vent is a bit blocked, and it can touch 80 C if it's on my lap. From experience, anything above 80 C and you're going to get problems.

Some table surfaces seem to be a pain too - they have ones in my library that seem to be varnished and the varnished surface seems to encourage the heating of the laptop, which can be a pain! I did get a cooler thing off eBay - it sourced its power from a USB port, and sat underneath the laptop at the back. It had two fans which blew air underneath and it did a good job, but it was a bit clumsy and my laptop kept slipping off it. I think it cost about £7.

Thanks for the tip. I normally keep my laptop on the desk, which is by a radiator, so that may also be a problem. I've checked the laptop and it has a grille at the bottom and it also appears to have two exhausts. I'll try and keep the grille in the air.

Typically the software doesn't appear to be compatible with my processor ( ), but I'll see if I can find an alternative. Do you remember what brand your cooler was?

A cooling pad would certainly help with the overheating, but the underlying problem would still be there.

The problem will most probably be that the air intakes for the fan are blocked with dust, and restricting the airflow to the cpu causing it to overheat, the computer is then shutting itself down when it reaches a preset temperature to stop damage to the cpu.

This can be cured by cleaning the dust from the airtakes, and it is possible to do this yourself. Depending how badly blocked the airways are you might be able to clear them with a blast of compressed air, you can buy cans of this for around £5.

I've had a quick look on Google and found this little guide on how to clean up a laptop with overheating problems, BUT I would not suggest you go poking things into your laptop unless you are reasonably happy you know what you are doing, as you could cause more damage!!

Laptop cleanup article

I did one last week. The heatsink and fan was so clogged up with dust and hairs I couldn't even clear it with an airline. So I had to take it out and clean it manually. I replaced the thermal compound with some nice fresh artic silver whilst I was at it as the old stuff was about 1/2 inch thick and like concrete. Made a huge difference. The laptop was quieter (less fan noise) and there was no throttling and no overheating. I charged the guy £30 and everybody was happy. Try your local computer repair man if you have no joy yourself.

The thing that never ceases to amaze me is how marginal the cooling on these things are even when working optimally. Heatsinks are small and the fins are densely packed (so prone to clogging) and the fans are tiny and have to spin at high speeds to move any decent volume of air. Soon as the fins start to clog with dust efficiency takes a nosedive and working temperatures rise.

The latest Intel Core Duo and Core 2 Duo run quite cool but even these can reach some amazing temps (esp compared to desktops) with heavy use.

Thanks for the guide. I also considered the possibility that there may be dust in the laptop...

I'll see if I can get some air to get into the laptop tomorrow, but I don't think I'll try poking a cotton bud into it, I don't trust myself!

I've decided that I am going to buy a cooling mat for it, and I downloaded a programme to monitor the temperature.

It appears to be working at around 70°C most of the time, but earlier it reached a temperature of 95°C! I put it slightly raised, uncharged and on standby for about half an hour then. It appears to have returned to room temperature and is now at 61°.

95C!!!! That's virtually boiling point, bloody hell! There is almost definitely a problem which Kes and basic have already gone into.

Mine normally is about 20 C when I first turn it on, and it raises to about 40C then the fan kicks in, then it settles to around 50 /60C... which I think is quite normal.

Oh and compressed air in a can is amazing stuff. Myself and the other computer geeks at school would often spend many a lunchtime sorting out overheating desktops by giving them a good blast with a can of compressed air and getting dust all over the corridor.

Compressed air is well amazing. Shame it costs so much for air though

Temperature watch - 75C... I don't think my computer likes YouTube...

My guess is there's probably something in the fan, as my desk's near the radiator and a lamp...

That's too hot for normal running. It's not like Youtube is a major stress either. And at 95C its no wonder your comp is shutting down. If you haven't got a can of compressed air then nip down the local garage and use their air-line and blow out all the vents. This should clear the fins on the heatsink inside.

If that doesn't work get it to a computer repair man. It'll be cheaper than a new computer - which is what you'll be needing if you don't get it sorted.

Lowering ambient temp, moving it away from the radiator and getting a cooling stand will help. But this is treating the symptoms not the cause. And it will only be short term too.

Where can I get compressed air?

Virtually any computer shops.

My laptop appears to be hovering around the 50C mark right now, I assume that's good?

Yes... that's fine as far as I'm concerned. How did you get it down to such a figure?