Terminally ill laptop

[Morgita]

It's 3 to 4 years old and in constant use but lately it has started shutting down with no notice. The obvious problem as far as I can see is overheating. It's hot to touch . After about twenty minutes it can be restarted and will last from 30 minutes to 3 or 4 hours. Frustratingly it seems to shut down when I am in the middle of posting a response or reading an online newspaper . The quandary is, should I bite the bullet and buy a new laptop or should I bother with some of the gadgets for keeping it cool? I have access via my desktop but the problem with that is that it's on a desk, not my cosy corner of the sofa.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I've had this problem as I seem to love to sit in my chair and hold my laptop on the lap of my fuzzy housecoat and have had 'em heat up big time. Know what I've done? I actually about a tray with two handles (therefore slight ledge) that I hold on my lap I then bought for real cheap off of Ebay one of those bottom laptop fan things that plug into the laptop via the USB drive. Works a charm! It sits easily onto my tray with the laptop on top hence there is a really good flow of air all around the laptop.

Also, I did buy a tin of air (OMG I bought a tin of air - just realized that I spent $$ on air!) anyway I bought a can of pressurized air and blew out the dust from my laptop all over. That helped quite a bit.......

[Winged Isis]

I was given a tray that has a fan that cools upwards for the computer and downwards for your lap, via a USB lead into the computer. I think the brand is Logitech (am not home right now, so cannot check).

Alternatively, I think when this happened to me years ago on my "vintage" laptop, it was needing a new battery.

[jewel]

Better still ditch the laptop and get an iPad......you'll never look back and wondered why you clung onto the laptop so long.
Those fan thingummies remind me of the sunhats you get with integrated fans...oh dear
http://cometvip.en.made-in-china.com/pr ... -M37-.html

[Winged Isis]

Recently arrived home.... yes it is by Logitech. Don't know if you have that brand or not.

[Horus]

As laptops get on a bit in years the fans tend to fail or become inefficient. A good idea is not to sit them on your lap or a cushion and contrary to Jewels comment those cooling trays really work well for most laptops as the fans are always vented on the underside and should not have this area obstructed. From a mechanical point of view any fan that has to struggle to pull the airflow over the blades because of obstructions will eventually cease working properly. A bad battery will get hot if you are running on the mains and this heat will need to be dissipated by the fan and it may not be able to cope, therefore the thermal overload cuts in to shut down your laptop. Some laptops will run OK with the battery removed when plugged into the mains supply, so you could try that and see if it makes any difference.

Alternatively can you find a good local repair shop that can have a look at it for you? My son recently tipped a glass of wine over his keyboard and managed to ruin it, but he took it to a local repair guy who has replaced the keypad quite cheaply. He also had a selection of reconditioned laptops at a good price, so good in fact that he bought the two grandchildren one each to avoid them having to share mum and dads laptop.

[Ruby Slippers]

I've just had this problem with my desktop PC, and was all ready to take it to the repair shop/knacker's yard but something stopped me. I asked DH to whip the side off and it was absolutely choked up with dust! He gave it a good clean which then allowed the CPU fan to start working efficiently again and - touch wood - it's behaving itself! I know this isn't a solution for a laptop but worth keeping in mind for a desktop?

[Horus]

That is always a good idea with desktops, just so long as you are careful and know what you are doing and remember to UNPLUG IT FIRST. Then using a soft brush and the plastic nozzle on a vacuum cleaner you can remove the muck off the fan blades and the general dust on your mother board, just don’t go scraping about with anything metal or abrasive. The main power supply box fan often becomes very dirty and this can cause intermittent power problems. For what its worth I periodically use an ordinary natural bristle 2” paint brush to give the awkward parts inside my PC a brush over while holding the vacuum nozzle close by to suck up the dust. Afterwards check all the connections by pressing gently to see that they are all secure before putting the panels back on again.

This however should not be done while the PC is still plugged into a power socket or if you are not sure what you are doing and especially if your name is JoJo.

[Morgita]

Bless you all for your prompt and helpful replies. I have removed the battery pack entirely and dusted out the fan which was quite mucky .The next step is to buy a cooler tray. We do have Logitech here, WI, and PC World stock those and a few others. It's considerably cheaper than replacing the whole thing as I was about to do. Thanks to all.

[Horus]

Before you buy a cooler tray, try using it without the battery in and putting a paperback book under each side keeping the fan vents clear. If it runs OK it will indicate that is is just a cooling proplem and you can buy a cooler tray.

[Winged Isis]

You're most welcome M! Good idea, H. Though, no matter what the age/condition of a laptop, I recommend these trays to anyone, especially for use during summer. But they would not be cold on your lap in winter if you needed to connect the fan, except maybe over a long period of use, and then you could always put something between the tray and your lap. I forgot to mention some other advantages: they are very light on your lap/to carry, are almost silent, are not completely flat but in a "wave" shape so they are at a good angle for typing, have rubber pads at the top of the "wave" so the laptop doesn't slide around, batteries are not needed as it runs off the computer, and the USB lead fits into a groove underneath for storage when the fan is not needed or the tray is not in use.

[Morgita]

I really tried to keep my laptop going and for a few days it did improve after a good clean and the removal of the battery pack. It soon became clear that the problem lay with the processor tater than the battery so yesterday I went in search of a replacement. I mainly use it for web browsing as I have a desktop for work purposes attached to a laser printer/fax. Lo and behold, I was seduced by the Apple Ipad2. I am having such fun with it. The forums appear in a stripped down plain text version which I also enjoy. The links are still operational so I ca play and replay my little bit of sunshine from Horus

[Morgita]

Arghh! I managed to submit without meaning to. Still in experimental mode. My main issue is that I can see and reply to posts via quick reply but I can't seem to find a way of starting a new thread. I would have preferred to start an Ipad2 thread but can't see how. I am not sure where to find my pms or send same. I am aware that this is not a computer as such, more like a phone really, but any help from iPad users would be welcome. Hopefully jewel is reading.

[Horus]

Sorry Morgita that I cannot help you on this as I do not use the ipad, maybe Keefy has some tips for you.

[Goddess]

This however should not be done while the PC is still plugged into a power socket or if you are not sure what you are doing and especially if your name is JoJo.

Hmmmmm.
Does that mean I can have a go at mine with the vac then since this doesn't apply to me?!

[Horus]

Well Goddess, you know our JoJo as well as I do, would you trust her to do that job without it resulting in some major catastrophe? And then who would she blame? ................. me!
Now I am sure that once you have put the little ones to bed and with your obvious 'puter' skills and the help of Mr Hoover you will be fine, I did mine again last week .................. and doubled the RAM at the same time and it is still working. You should have seen the dust and muck on the cooling fans and motherboard, now if I could only train Mrs H in all things electronic, I could add this to her list of houshold chores.

[Goddess]

Goddess unleashed with a vac again!
Now then, the instructions above are for desktops ... where do I point the nozzle on a laptop, and would my upholstry brush do a better job? (and should I take it to bits first?? )

[Horus]

Oh no! another JoJo

[Ruby Slippers]

Please, please can someone tell me why I keep getting logged out? Even if I've just logged in, often when I look at another thread - I've been logged out and have to sign in all over again!