Laptop seems to be overheating?

[Lobster]

I have a pretty old laptop - a Dell Inspiron 1150 (2.4GHz processor/1Gb memory). Problem is that it now seems to be overheating in that it shuts itself down without warning, and its underside certainly feels hot to the touch. The fan runs at full tilt much of the time, and if I look at the CPU usage under Windows Task Manager, I often see it at 100% when doing labour-intensive tasks.

Battery (original) has been pretty much shot for a long time (has about

30 mins life and I really only use the machine on mains always).

I've dismantled the laptop and checked the fan/CPU heatsink aren't clogged. I've run all the Dell system diagnostic tests and it passes with flying colours.

I've just reformatted the HD and reinstalled Windows plus all its updates, to no avail.

The machine obviously doesn't owe me anything, but for the tasks I ask of it (basically a spare machine around the house used for internet surfing and Office apps) it performs (or did) adequately enough. So am curious as to what's wrong.

My suspicion is that it can't cope with XP SP3 and the *hundreds* of MS patches it now has - is that likely/plausible? Any thoughts welcomed.

Thanks David

[Nightjar]

I had to disable the sensor software on one computer a few years back, because it kept shutting down for no reason. The computer is still running. I did see a laptop cooling base - essentially a low stand with a fan under the base of the laptop - in Lidl a few days ago, if that is any help.

Colin Bignell

[Andy Burns]

If you look on the Processes tab in Task Manager, and sort by CPU, which process is eating most CPU?

Not really, once the patches are installed they are largely replacements for software that is a base part of the OS, no more work for it to do to run the replacement version than the original. It's only the installer that keeps tabs on them individually.

[John Williamson]

Open taskmanager, and check what process is using the CPU time.

I had a similar problem on a dual core Toshiba Satellite showing 100% usage constantly, and it turned out to be a rogue process connected to automatic switching between ethernet and wireless network adaptors. Not only was it using 80% of both cores, it was using a constantly increasing amount of RAM as time went by. Turning off the auto switching stopped that.

It's also possible that the heatsink isn't connected thermally to the CPU or Northbridge chips, and you need to split the heatsink off, clean it all up and re-apply a minimal smear of fresh heatsink compound.

CPUID will let you check whether it's the processor overheating or something else.

It's also possible, but unlikely, that the battery is drawing excessive charging current due to an internal failure, so overloading the power supply.

I'm running XP SP3 on an Asus EEEPC 701 and a very old (2001 Compaq Armada E500 with 192Mb of RAM), so I doubt that yours can't cope with it.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Far better for just a bit of mail/surf and open officing.

[Man at B&Q]

Hows that going to fix an obvious hardware problem?

Speedfan would be better. At least that will give some indication of the measured temps and where the problem may lie.

MBQ

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its not an obvious hardware problem. In fact its almost certainly a rogue process hewing up CPU.

[Tabby]

100% cpu use on a 2.4G lappie is an obvious software problem. Find the offending process, shut it down, prevent it restarting at boot time. You'll then find the battery lasts much longer.

If you cant sort xp out then as said use linux, but realise that a lightweight distro has not one but 2 advantages on a laptop, the battery then lasts longer, since its using less cpu time and hdd access with everything it does. Dual boot is a good option, a full fat distro when its needed, eg Mint 7, and a lighter one such as Antix for less intensive use.

NT

[Man at B&Q]

The quote from the OP is "I often see it at 100% when doing labour- intensive tasks".

Where does anyone get the idea that there is a rogue process running

100% of the time?

Overheating, even if using 100% of the cpu is a *hardware* problem.

MBQ

[Man at B&Q]

Quote "When doing labour intensive tasks".

No it isn't. I can get 100% usage on all 4 cores of a 4 core 3GHz desktop with CAE software that I regularly uses. Doing similar on a laptop would be a piece of piss.

If it's overheating due to using the processor ans system to do what it is designed to do then it is a hardware problem.

MBQ

[John Rumm]

While the high CPU usage is a software problem, the fact that is causing thermal issues is a hardware one. Computers should be able to run a 100% CPU (and GPU) load without difficulty.

I would go with speedfan to assess what the sensors are reading. If you need to add load, then use Prime95 in its torture test mode.

Ideally the system should be able to do 10 hours of torture test without issue.

[BartC]

You should be able to use the CPU without it shutting down. Plenty of applications need 100% of the CPU, and it would be inconvenient if machines kept shutting down for that reason.

(How long at 100% does it take to over-heat?)

I would suspect an actual cooling problem (perhaps the fan is blocked up, whatever) as has been suggested.

BTW how warm is the environment?

XP with 1GB should be fine IMO. But perhaps there's a lot of other crap that could do with getting rid of. That may contribute to the overheating, but it should still be able to cope.

[Skipweasel]

My elderly ThinkPad is rather lower spec and copes fine, so it's probably not that.

Have you hoovered it out, either from the exhaust vents or by more invasive means?

Does it have the correct hardware drivers installed after the Windows replacement? Without the proper power management drivers most laptops just run at full pelt all the time.

Have the BIOS settings got changed? There are power manangement settings there, too - again set wrong they can make it pedal like crazy all the time.

[Skipweasel]

Not on a Dell!

[Colin Wilson]

Long time no lurk for me (ill health forced a break)...

I had a similar issue recently on my desktop having installed yet more patches from WeBrokeItFirstSoft, and it was a "search assistant" that was installed without my permission - an official M$ patch that changed the way my local desktop searches are handled.

Try opening a drive and pressing F3 - if you don't have the familiar simple search feature, but one that wants to f*ck about and go online, you have it too... you can disable it via the Computer Management util in the Control Panel.

It's called Windows Search - disable it from the services menu in the above.

[Skipweasel]

And turn off file-indexing, too.

[Jules Richardson]

That's the big issue with my old Inspiron - it sucks in cooling air from underneath, bringing dust from the desk with it, or finding itself completely blocked if perched upon a lap (but who puts a laptop on their lap...)

As a possibly-useful reference point, mine (2.2GHz CPU / 1GB mem) does just fine with Linux / Firefox / Openoffice. There's one spot on the underside of the case that gets quite warm after an hour or so of use, but it seems to run cool enough otherwise so long as I'm mindful of that air intake. (My battery's shot too, incidentally)

Still, I suspect the machine's designed to run flat-out without shutting down, so I think you have some hardware problem going on. I can't imagine any manufacturer would release a machine that broke under heavy load, regardless of the actual software in use.

It's been ages since I've been inside my machine - there's a loud-ish fan visible from the underside of the machine, but is there also an internal CPU fan? If so, you said the fan is clear - but is it actually running?

cheers

Jules

[Wesley]

May be an obvious question but is there enough room for air to circulate from under the laptop? I don't think its a software problem.

[therustyone]

Go into Task Manger (Ctr-Alt-Del) then select Processes column then the CPU column to get a ranked list of CPU usage. It should show "taskmgr" using about 3% and the CPU is idle 97% approx. If anything uses near 100%, my CPU does get very hot after a few minutes and the fan starts up.

rusty

[Man at B&Q]

Why, if it's doing "labour intensive tasks". That's what the CPU is there for, to be used!

There is no software problem!

MBQ