Fall is here, but is your laptop still weathering the heat?
We talk about spring cleaning, but good laptop care has no season. Now, as the cold weather season approaches, your organization may experience more employees telecommuting or certainly working in warmer environments. With the prevalent use of laptops, this also means that laptops may become more susceptible to hardware and software failure due to normal wear and tear as well as something as simple as overheating.
At Infinity Technology, we generally see fewer than 10% of laptop repair work contributable to the fan failing or being able to keep up with cooling the laptop states Chris Challe, Systems Administrator. However, keeping a laptop cool and certainly keeping a laptop clean is vital to extending the life of your company's portable equipment. When components get packed with dust, they begin to fail and our tip to clients for keeping their laptops running flawlessly for years is to ensure that laptops are maintained.
For instance, the vents can get clogged with dust and lint over time leading to reduced air flow or no air flow. Here are some tips:
- Regularly check the vents on your laptop while it's on to see if the fan is pushing out any air. Do this when it's new, if possible, so you know how much is should expel.
- Use compressed air specifically made for computers to blow away dust and lint from around the vents and into the vent to remove debris around the fan unit.
- Contact a desktop technician at Infinity and have the laptop professionally serviced and taken apart for cleaning.
- Use your laptop on a flat solid surface, avoiding sitting it on blankets or other areas conducive to conducting heat.
- Purchase a cooling fan for your laptop to help it dissipate heat from it.
We hope this month's featured article will provide you additional insight on laptops and the effects of heat.
This is a v ery common problem in computers. Even though this happened a lot more back then, it still happens now, especially in laptops. PC's have more space to provide airflow so they do not have this problem as much, but with Laptops, it is an ongoing thing that needs to be prevented in order to keep the machine in good health. Many people use there laptops for business, school, and entertainment. Many people put there laptops in bags so they do not have to carry them in there arms. Many people like to get comfy and place there laptop on there bed or any soft surface. These are all hazards that need to be advised so you don't further damage your computer. Overheating is probably the number one problem people face when buying a laptop. They wonder why there laptop shut off, of froze up. They wonder why they turn it back on and it shuts off or freezes again. Well first off if you were hot and passed out and someone tried to wake you back up you wouldn't want to wake up... You would want to stay down and cool off. Same with a computer. Usually the first thing people do when they first take there laptop out from the box is turn it on correct? Then they start playing around with the many features it has. After they have figured out the kinks and everything the laptop has to offer they like to find a nice comfortable place to put it. This is where the problems all start. Usually in your manual you will find a section stated "What not to do with your laptop". This should be read by everyone.
Number one. Do not place your laptop on a soft surface nor a surface where it blocks the airflow of the machine. What this basically means is when a laptop is placed on the ground it has half inch rubber legs that allow the laptop to get enough airflow to breath. If you place it on a bed or couch it is not getting the airflow it needs and cooks itself. If it cooks itself then it will either shut off automatically or freeze. People panic right away when this happens but shouldn't because usually if this is happening the first time or the first few times it means the computer reached a temperature higher than it's core temperature and shut off to prevent damage to the hardware. If the person misuses his or her's common sense and turns it back on while still on the bed, then the damage could be massive. Usually though for the first five minutes or so if you try and turn the computer back on the computer will shut back down because it is too hot inside. As I said back in the first paragraph if you are too hot you wouldn't want to move any more until you're all cooled off, well this is the same with a computer. Normal core temperatures in laptops should range between 35 degrees Celsius and 40 degrees Celsius, give or take a couple degrees. If this reaches anything higher than your in danger. Normally 55 degrees Celsius is the problem point. Of course the cooler your computer is the better, as the lowest I have ever really witnessed in a laptop was 24 degrees Celsius and that was in a very cold room. There is enough heat inside the laptop to maintain a strong enough heated environment.
Number two DO NOT place the laptop in the bag while on. This will also cause overheating and damage to the screen. When the monitor is on and it is facing the keyboard it will make the keys very hot and the hardware under the keyboard will fry. If this happens bring the computer in a very cool room and let it sit while turned off. I am a computer technician myself and have gotten many overheated machines. There is not much to do with fried machines except replacing the parts. If the motherboard is fried than your in bad shape, because that is the main part of the computer, and normally in a laptop you can't normally fix a motherboard. It is just better to buy a new machine as the price would come close to that of replacing the motherboard. Laptops have two or three air vents at the bottom and normally two on the sides or back. These air vents need to be able to breathe at all times otherwise the computer will get hotter and hotter. Just remember those two facts and your computer should be in great shape.
Computers have made big improvements in the technology field but there are still those problems that need to be looked out for. There is no perfect computer and something will always happen if proper care isn't provided. The hardware which is inside the computer usually have fans to cool them off, but if there is no air getting inside the fans can't work any harder than they are, so you play a big part in helping those fans.
Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/4392/laptop_overheating_some_useful_hints.html
Infinity Technology offers residential and SMB computer and laptop services and is a certified HP authorized service center. |
