Why is laptop so hot

As the computer starts running hotter for longer, its fan will attempt to compensate by running faster and more often. Unfortunately, once dust, hair, or tar has already found its way into the machine it is notoriously difficult to clean out.

The only way to reset the machine to run cool and quiet is to disassemble the base and clean out its components. Much like a car engine, computer components have a designed temperature range in which they can safely and reliably operate without any issues. Extended periods of running above the temperature they are designed for can cause damage, sudden failures, and drastically shorten the designed lifespan of the computer.

Often times seemingly random blue screen computer crashes can be traced back to components that have been overheating inside the computer. As heat builds up, vulnerable components start to fail, sometimes temporarily, in the hotter temperatures.

By the time the computer is rebooted and cooled down the issue is seemingly resolved. Back in operation, the computer heats up once more and eventually crashes again. These irregular crashes are highly inconvenient and can sometimes cause data loss too. However, these symptoms are minor compared to a complete write-off of the machine.

For some users, the first sign that their machine is too hot to run safely is when the motherboard is burnt out or their data storage has been irreparably lost. If your laptop is running hot to the touch or has started to sound loud or irregular, bring it to us for a thorough clean out. We will completely disassemble and clean all of the internal components.

Overheating in your laptop may be as a result of intense processes. You can keep your laptop cool by avoiding such processes on your machine. For instance, browsers with video Flash will subject the CPU to hard work. The CPU will start getting hotter and increase fan speeds. Enter your text to search Search. About Us. Have a question? Our Live Chat operators are ready to help! Note that if you are not comfortable opening up the laptop, get a professional to do it Elevate your laptop Overheating can be caused by lack of inadequate ventilation under the laptop.

Use a lap desk Another method to provide enough ventilation is the use of a lap desk. Controlling fan speed Constant airflow within your laptop prevents your fans from running at full speeds. Avoid using Intense processes Overheating in your laptop may be as a result of intense processes.

Keep your laptop out of the heat Lastly, overheating of your laptop may occur due to extreme exposure to direct hot sunlight, especially during summer. High temperatures may cause a computer to overheat due to an expansion of hard drive and battery damage.

Therefore, you should keep your laptop in the shade whenever temperatures are high. All rights reserved. You can mediate this by using previously mentioned FlashBlock in your browser, so you only turn on Flash videos when you actually want them. Computer games and video encoding programs like Handbrake require a lot of juice from your CPU, so it's best to use these on a desktop machine if you have one or maybe at night, when you aren't as worried about touching your laptop case.

Also, keep an eye out for runaway processes. If your fans start to spin up loudly and there isn't an obvious reason why, open up the task manager to see if something else might be hogging your CPU. Check the Processes tab and see if anything is using your CPU—usually, anything in the double digits is probably your culprit.

Hopefully this helps you get your laptop to a more comfortable temperature, but remember: if it isn't shutting down or causing problems, the main problem is probably that you're using your laptop on your lap, which you shouldn't be doing. These tips will help you cool it down when you need to, but the most important thing is to keep it away from your body, even if you have a layer of clothes in between you and the computer. Good luck! Got any other laptop tips or overheating experiences to share?

Let us know in the comments. Have a question or suggestion for Ask Lifehacker? Title image remixed from Kurhan Shutterstock. Wow, I'm an Indian and I certainly do use the Indian style of sitting. But seriously, I never knew it was called "Indian Style". My experience s - My MacBook Pro sometimes get's so hot that it becomes difficult to type 'cause your palm rest area of the machine is hot.

And this hotness is what I think causes my computer to become so slow that it starts affecting the browser's performance even if everything is fine with the Internet, and believe me, I have a super fast Internet connection. Some applications will take forever to open And quit. Sometimes they won't even quit and I have to force quit it. It sometimes becomes non-responsive.