Does your laptop shut down in the middle of doing something without any reason and warning? Does your laptop run much hotter then before, the keyboard and the bottom part of the laptop feels very hot? If yes, your laptop overheats and has to be cleaned up. It happens because the heat sink is clogged with dust and lint preventing normal air circulation.
These are all the symptoms of a laptop overheating problem in or around the cooling system. The fan and the heat sink have a small gap in between them, this is where dust will be sucked into and will accumulate. Once all the dust and lint is removed, re-assemble your machine. This procedure is something that should be done periodically to ensure that your laptop overheating issues will be a thing of the past.
Alternatively, you can clean up your laptop without taking it apart by blowing off fans and heatsink with compressed air. This is not the best way to fix the problem because some dust will stay inside the laptop but it will work. By the way, if you’ve been using your laptop for a few years, it might be a good idea to replace thermal compound on the processor. It will help to keep your laptop cooler.
Here’s another resource with covers laptop overheating in more depth.
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January 11th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
@ sol,
Does it feel hot on the bottom? If yes, probably it’s shutting down because of overheating. Clean up the cooling module and fan and you should be fine.
Check out this post: http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2011/01/11/laptop-runs-hot-turns-off-freezes/
January 11th, 2012 at 3:30 am
computer shuts off during reformat, can’t finish reformat
October 14th, 2011 at 9:57 am
sir i m using dell inspiron. recently im install a fresh new window which is providing from with my dell laptop. but problem after install the windows (64bit windows 7) the laptop shutdown with out any reason. please help me and give me the proper solution.
thanks
October 10th, 2011 at 11:01 am
I have a problem with my Sony Vaio VPCEH. It’s 1 month old. i have 4GB DDR3 RAM, Nvidia Geforce 410M 1GB, Intel Core i3…. But when i want to play almost any game (such as assassins creed, Medal of honor etc…), after some time (5 or 10 minutes) the laptop shuts down suddenly. The laptop is not hot or anything. I play FIFA12 almost everyday and it’s not happening, but when i want to play for example Assassins creed, it shuts down… What can be the problem?
August 8th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
my laptop always trips of when i am trying to load anything, what shld i do
April 1st, 2011 at 4:53 pm
sir, i have same problem in my laptop also, but one thing i have notice if i remove the battery
and pulg the charger start it will run for 1 hour it will not turn off . what is the problem in my laptop and once again insert the battery ..the problem of automatically turn off start please suggest me what is the problem in my laptop and one more thing it dosent heat….
February 19th, 2011 at 10:55 am
same problem i have with my type laptop Sony vaio vgn cr 363… i am fed up now….
….
October 18th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
[...] laptop was shutting down because of overheating. Cleaning the heatsink will fix this [...]
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:01 pm
the fan is spinning.. one more thing, my laptop doesn’t shut down instantly when i’m in safe mode…. so in safe mode i can watch movies, because when im in normal mode every time i play videos, my laptop shutdown instantly.. or even when i play warcraft.. before the game start.. my laptop shut down instantly… but when im doing nothing like just using ms word for 48 hours.. my laptop isn’t shutting down instantly .. pls help me sir.. my laptop just only have 256 memory .. and the processor is 1.7ghz.. is there any connection with the memory?
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:31 am
Demz,
Turn on the laptop and take a closer look at the cooling fan. Does it spin? Will it turn on at all?
Maybe the fan is not working?