When you go to turn it back on did it take pressing the power button twice?
Today we are going to cover overheating issues in laptop computers.
Over heating.....
It's an issue that a lot of "captain save a laptop" sort of Techs like myself have to deal with, ALL THE TIME. So we are going to go over the process of how to avoid paying someone like myself a truck load of money to diagnose and treat your poor aging laptop.
This post will be useful for both home users and business owners because a CPU fan turning into a binary crunching dust devil is a problem everyone with aging hardware faces at some point. Some hardware configurations are more notorious for this then others. Take the eMachine M series for example. I've seen this machine suffer from this exact problem time and time again. The model I've seen it in most is the eMachine M5405. The M5405 has a intake fan that pulls cool air off the surface of the table it is sitting on, through a cooling duct/heat sink, into an exhaust fan that sits on top of the CPU. I understand the intentions here, but what poor implementation.
*eMachine thought to conserve space they could use one centralized duct/heat sink
system and in turn give the laptop a smaller design.
In most cases of a older laptop/notebook form factors over heating it's a CPU fan clogged with dust, hair, and other particles of it's surrounding environment. The first step to resolving this issue is to call the manufacture and some times the store that you bought the machine from and inquire about it warranty. Because this fix often times takes opening the laptop's actual case to fix and it would be better if the manufacturer's techs do that.
Step one: Inquire about warranty with manufacturer and retail store.
*(Because often times stores like best buy offer extended protection
plans they may cover the costs of the repair or provide
new hardware so they can resale your machine
as "refurbished".)
Step two: Research people's experiences with the same product.
*(A good first start is Google, using google they often will pull up other
sites forms and comment postings on issues. To get the best results
try to be as descriptive as possible without getting too wordy.
Example: "eMachine M5405 shuts down at boot FIX")
Step three: If the results of step two turn out to be what we suspected
(an over heating CPU). Then go ahead and research (using Google)
the proper case opening process for your particular hardware.
*(Sites like: Tom's Hardware often times have sections in their form for
Case removal etc.)
Step four: Before turning your first screw make sure you are protecting yourself and
your hardware by using the correct tools:
Anti-static strap
Anti Static Wrist Strap With Grounding Wire
Grounding mat
12-Inch x 21.5-Inch Anti-Static Grounding Pad Electronic tool kit
55-Piece Computer Tool Kit with Black Case*(Now Some people may argue that these tools aren't entirely
necessary but let me remind you of the REAL danger's that
come along with ESD By linking you to the Wikipedia
Page about Electrostatic Discharge.)
Step five: Review "Step three" and implement!
*(Use Cation and make sure your grounded!)
*(Another tip is when I remove screws I use small cups labeled
with numbers to keep track of what screws belong in each
hole, as well as keep things from rolling off the table.)
Step six: Reassemble, cross fingers, boot!
The next time I get a laptop in the shop with this issue I'll make a video, with the owner's permission. Until then good luck and be sure to comment/follow.
~C.VonHoogenstyn
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