Does your Sony Vaio PCG-GRZ630 laptop run hot and shut off on its own? Most likely it happens because the heatsink got clogged with dust and because of that the laptop overheats and shuts off to prevent the CPU damage. This tutorial explains why it happens and how you can fix the problem.

Few Models of the Sony VAIO laptops are Notorious to get hot very fast. Many users of the VAIO GRZ-630 report that after few months of use the computer might shut itself down with in the first 30 minutes of usage.
In most cases this phenomenon occurs due to accumulation of dirt in the computer’s CPU cooling system.

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Using the following instructions you will be able to upgrade the hard drive and the memory module in a Sony Vaio Z505 laptop.

The first guide explains how to access the memory slot witch is located under the keyboard.

The stock Vaio came with 128MB memory and can take up to 256MB by adding a 128MB PC100 SODIMM. There have been tales of people both succeeding and failing at adding more memory with various operating systems, but Sony only promises up to 256MB for this model.

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This guide provides step-by-step instructions for removing and replacing the hard drive on a Sony Vaio PCG-F630 laptop. Yes, this is an older laptop but some people still have it.

It’s not as easy as Dell or Toshiba because the Sony guys decided to put the hard drive inside and under the keyboard in a not-so-easy-to-access place. The higher end Sony’s have a easy access panel to replace the hard drive.

Even though this instructions were made for one particular model, they should works for some other Sony Vaio models.
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Your Sony laptop overheats and shuts down? Apparently it’s time to take it apart for cleaning. Thank you to this site for illustrated laptop cleaning instructions.

A brief search of the internet revealed that the main shortcoming of the VAIO series of laptops is the lack of cooling capacity. Apparently the overall design of the system is barely sufficient, which is exacerbated by some real design problems. For example, the intake is located on the bottom, which is frequently sitting directly on your leg if you (ironically) hold the laptop in your lap. In addition, the ductwork and heat sinks are easily clogged with dust, which severely limits their efficiency. At the very minimum, this leads to very noisy fan levels, ultimately resulting in spontaneous shutdowns as the internal temperatures begin to exceed critical levels.

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These instructions will guide you through taking apart your Sony Vaio laptop.

UPDATE: the page I was linking to is gone. Here’s another source for Sony Vaio manuals and here’s one more source.

You can use these instructions for:

1. Removing and replacing the laptop keyboard
You can find brand new Sony keyboards at SparePartsWarehouse. I purchased a few Sony keyboards from them and was very pleased with the provided service.
2. Removing, replacing or just cleaning the cooling module – heatsing and fans
If you laptop runs hot and overheats, it might be not necessary taking it apart. You can clean the cooling module with compressed air without taking it apart. Buy a can of compressed air in any local computer store and spray it inside the cooling module through the holes on the bottom of the laptop. It should take care of the overheating problem.
3. Removing and replacing the CPU
Be very careful with the CPU pins, they are fragile. After you replace the processor, do not forget to lock the socket or your laptop will not start up after you assemble it back.

I’m not sure 100% but I think the above mentioned disassembly guide will work for the following Sony laptops:

PCG-K12FP, PCG-K12P, PCG-K13, PCG-K13F, PCG-K13Q, PCG-K14, PCG-K15, PCG-K15F, PCG-K17, PCG-K20P, PCG-K23, PCG-K23F, PCG-K23Q, PCG-K24FP, PCG-K25, PCG-K25F, PCG-K27, VGN-K20P