How To Cool Down My Overheating Laptop

If your laptop is running so hot that it is overheating and shutting itself down then there are a couple of things you can try before you send it off for repair.

1. Get a can of compressed air (see below) and blow any dust out of the air vents. If the vents are particularly badly clogged you might want to do this outside to avoid blowing the dust all over your room and yourself. Alternatively your vacuum cleaner might do an adequate job, but the compressed air will be more powerful and should give better results.
2. Check that the cooling fans are still working, if they are not, have them replaced.
3. If the fans are working you could try applying some fresh thermal / heat-sink compound (see below).
4. Get yourself a laptop cooler such as the Antec Notebook Cooler from Dabs.com, (see below) at less than £30 this is an inexpensive solution. If your laptop continues to overheat even with the use of the cooler you will need to have it repaired.

Be warned that the increased heat output of you laptop might indicate a problem with your motherboard. The cost of a replacement motherboard is usually uneconomical and the only thing left is to sell it on ebay for spare parts. (Remember to make sure you have securely removed your data)

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