Overheating issues in laptops or computers are quite common these days. Almost every user experiences this problem at some point. The issue of excessive heat in the device can trigger many other problems if you ignore it for too long. No matter what is the brand of your laptop, overheating can lead to hardware damage and even permanent device failure.
On some devices, too much heat can cause BSOD error, data loss, noisy fans, and other technical problems. Hence, before the issue reaches its extreme level, you must resolve this heating up problem in your device. For those who are looking for technical solutions on how to fix overheating laptop, you can go through this article.
Here, you can learn a few major signs that indicate your laptop is heating up unusually. It can also help to understand the causes of the device meltdown issue in laptops. So, let’s start with the basic discussion on why your laptop seems to be hotter than usual and what are its risks.
What Is Overheating In Laptops And Its Underlying Risks?
Due to the manufacturing technology and hardware design, laptops are a bit different than desktops. This is the reason why your laptop can seem prone to overheating problems as compared to computers. The placement of the hardware components in a laptop is within the close proximity, which leaves little room for circulation of air. When the space inside your device’s panel gets congested with no or very less air movement, it becomes hotter.
Also, if too many programs are running on your laptop, it utilizes the CPU heavily. The laptops are already a miniature version of computers that are using fast processors within small bodies. Hence, over usage of CPU can lead to maximum temperature in such laptops.
Any Danger Due To Laptop Overheating?
Hot laptops can be a bigger problem than it seems to many users. Many researchers are predicting that due to this miniaturization of devices, it can pose greater risks of overheating. Hence, the day is not very far when your laptop can get hotter like the sun and lead to device’s outbursts.
If the issue of device meltdown is not addressed with proper technical fixes, its hardware components can fail. Too much heat can damage hard drives, motherboards, graphics cards, memory modules, and much more.
The overheating problem not only causes serious damage to laptop’s internal hardware, but also to the outer body. Sometimes, you can even sense a burning smell inside your device, which can cause severe hazards later. There are incidents of defective laptops having overheating issues, which have burned down places overnight.
Common Causes Of Overheating In Computers, Laptops, And Other Devices
If you want to understand what causes overheating? go through the following points. It covers the possible technical causes of heating up of laptops due to various reasons.
Exhaust Vent Blockage
On the sides of your laptop, there exist the exhaust fans that are responsible for air circulation inside it. However, there are devices that can have these vents at its back panel. When users pay less attention to its inner and outer cleanliness, over the time, it can block these air vents. The reason is due to the accumulation of a significant quantity of dust around these ventilators. As the heat generated within the device can’t get a proper outlet for releasing, it causes overheating.
Faulty Components In An Old Laptop
Another reason for overheating can be the age of your laptop. Yes, as the device starts getting older, it can overheat quickly even after a little use. Also, the hardware components in it degrade as well, which starts affecting the overall performance. There can be dust and debris inside your laptop that has collected over the years. This is when the fan and other surrounding parts inside your device start to overwork for the proper functioning of the device.
Surrounding Temperature
Often, the weather can play an important role in causing the high temperature in laptops. Also, if the weather in any particular geographic region is very hot, it can increase the heat up problems in devices. So, for those who are residing in a hotter climate, they are prone to experience laptop overheating.
Wrong Placement Of Laptop
Since the air vents blockages can trigger heating up of laptops, improper laptop’s placement can be a reason. If you place it in such a way that the airflow gets blocked, the device can become hot. As the best way to use a laptop is on a flat, hard, and clear surface with sufficient ventilation, any other option can cause overheating.
Defective Laptop Fan
For your laptop to function properly, its internal fan must work without any technical problem. If there is any malfunction in this fan, it can be difficult to cool down the device. Many times, the fan can become faulty if there is a damaged capacitor in your laptop’s internal hardware. So, the heating up problem can show up if the laptop cooling pad is not working anymore in your laptop.
Hardware Upgradation
Sometimes, the overheating problem can generate if users add new hardware components to their laptops. It can be the hard disk, video or sound card, or even RAM, which can contribute towards the heating up problem. As these components are newly added to the system, it tends to utilize more resources of your laptop including the CPU. Also, if you install accessories that may not be compatible with your device, it can lead to overheating.
How To Confirm Your Laptop Is Having Overheating Problem?
Every time when your laptop seems hot, it doesn’t always mean an overheating issue. There are multiple reasons behind devices to become excessively warm and it can be a temporary problem too. In case the laptop feels too hot but shows no other technical errors, it means the device is performing well. However, if the fan inside your laptop runs at its full speed all the time, it can be due to overheating. Before covering the causes, solutions, and preventions regarding overheated laptops, let’s discuss the signs.
Symptoms That Indicates Your Laptop Is Getting Excessively Hot
As discussed above, not every temperature rise can be considered as an overheating problem in laptops. Sometimes, the device can get hot inside, but you may not feel it on its outer surface. Whereas, if your laptop is already feeling warm or hot on the outside, there are signs to validate the overheating issue. If someone asks “how do you know your laptop is overheating?” you can go through the following points to confirm it.
- Your laptop’s fan is producing loud noises and running continuously, which can feel like overtask.
- There are random programs and windows popping up on your screen with suspicious error messages.
- You can’t even carry out basic functions on your laptop, like opening new programs or browser window.
- There can be unusual patterns or lines appearing on the screen of your laptop, which can happen due to video card overheating.
- Sometimes, getting Blue Screen of Death or system crashes unexpectedly can indicate the device has a heat up issue.
- Your laptop is slowing down all of a sudden, along with abrupt shutdown or restart issues.
- The laptop’s bottom portion and other components like battery, processor, RAM, or fan are excessively hot.
How To Troubleshoot Laptop Overheating Issue?
If your query is “how can you prevent or fix an overheating laptop?”, this section can provide some technical insight into it. Before covering the preventive tips, let’s discuss some troubleshooting steps to fix overheating in laptops.
Steps To Resolve Overheating In Your Laptop
In case the air vents are within your access after removing the panels, unscrew it by following proper instructions. Remember, once you remove the hardware or back panel, it voids your laptop’s warranty rules. Hence, follow these steps if the warranty period of your device is over. Now, let’s discuss the step by step instructions to troubleshoot overheating issue in laptops.
Check Air Flow
Your first task is to examine the ventilators of your device and check the flow of air through them. If you find no air flow through these vents, it means there will be no transfer of heat.
Arrange Cleaning Tools
After ensuring that the problem of overheating is due to blocked vents, turn your device upside-down. Then, remove the accumulated dust by using compressed air cans. Next, you need to have some cleaning tools to clean the debris from your laptop’s fan and other surrounding components.
Make sure that you have appropriate screwdrivers, cotton swabs or earbuds, and brush. Also, keep something handy to scrape off old thermal grease from hardware components. You can also use rubber gloves while cleaning up the insides of your laptop.
Clean Laptop’s Fan And Blades
After taking out the cooling unit of your laptop carefully, use the can of compressed hot air to clear the dust. You can also use a hair dryer as a replacement to clean the accumulated debris near the fan, exhaust vents, and inside the case.
If there is dirt on the blades, you can use cotton swabs or earbuds to clean the fan. Many times, cleaning the blades can help to increase the fan speed inside your laptop. This, in turn, helps the device to transfer excessive heat through the air vents and keep it cool. You can make use of a brush to dust off everything else that doesn’t go away after using the compressed air.
Fix Heat Exchanger
To remove the old thermal grease from the heat exchanger, GPU, and CPU unit, you can use a soft object to scrape it off. Hence, you can use a plastic knife or dip an earbud in the solution of Isopropyl alcohol to clean it up. If you want to apply new thermal grease again, avoid putting any on your laptop’s heat exchanger unit.Instead, just place a little amount on the GPU and CPU units only, before closing the panels of your laptop.
Also, check if the fan’s power cable is connected properly, as it can be a contributing factor for overheating. You can use the screwdrivers to fix loose ends and replacing heat exchanger if it’s not producing enough cooling air.
Tips To Prevent Laptop Overheating
- Avoid using the laptop for non-stop hours and keep it on a hard, and flat surface.
- If the battery is damaged or heating up quickly, replace it as soon as possible.
- End programs that utilize lots of system resources and install CPU cooling software.
- Try to operate your laptop on power saving mode or use rubber feet at its bottom.
- Make use of a cooling pad for placing your laptop to ensure proper air flow.
In this article, you came across technical steps to deal with excessive heat and avoid overheating in laptops. For advanced solutions, you can reach a professional or ask technicians how to fix overheating laptop problems.
