jonw9

The fan on my laptop constantly runs when plugged in. Even with the processor idle (~12%) the fans continues to run.

It didn't use to do this. The only things I can think that are currently "working" are Mcaffee and some Spybot thing in the background for protection.

Is it recommended to use the Spybot constant monitor? I guess I can with the fan if the background programs are worth it.

I just updated the bios, but it still seems the same. I can't even use the thing on my lap because my leg gets too hot.

fumanstan

I had a problem with my girlfriend's laptop where it would overheat because there was barely any thermal grease on the CPU. I ended up having to open it up and reapply it.

Are you able to get a temperature monitor and check the temps of it?

The Cow

Is your CPU utilization high (check Task Manager)?

Also, get the air can out and blow any dust out.

jonw9

I didn't see where to check the CPU utilization.

The temps after just surfing the web for 15 mins. are at ~65C. At points where I was working for a while and had things like Acrobat open, I have seen them reach 88C!

Would a "chill pad" be a benefit? Where should normal temps be?

Update: 10:32, 75C, running only FFox and the temp program. CPU around 10-25%, RAm used just over 1 GB. Also using Vista, if I forgot to mention it.

CRyan

How old is it? I promise you the problem is dirt in the copper cooling fins. I ended up taking mine apart and I could not believe it - it looked like a canister vacuum in there after cleaning a couple rooms. You can likely find dissasembly instructions for your laptop online like I did to figure out how to get to all the cooling fins and pipes. Laptops are horrible to take apart in most cases and they are sometimes damn near impossible to get them back together exactly right.

BUT, if you can do it well, it will likely fix your problem.

jonw9

It is about 12-14 months old. I will try blowing out the dirt and see if it helps. And then disassemble if necessary.

al_bundy

have an HP notebook and same thing. in my case it's disk I/O.

for my mailbox i have cached exchange mode set up and it downloads all email to an ost file which was 2GB in my case. cleaned out my mailbox and now it's a lot better and less fan time

CRyan

Well, thats not real old. Maybe it is something else. But I will say a can of air is not going to help much. The dirt in the three laptops I have taken apart (2 of which were HP's) had this massive amount of dirt between the fan ducting and the fins. And I dont mean dirt really - except to say its a massive chunk of crap that was completely blocking the duct to the fins.