My laptop keeps overheating

I have this problem with my laptop: it overheats whenever I'm browsing the web. It also makes a persistent loud whirring noise. At first, I thought it's because Firefox uses too much CPU, but then I encounters the same problem with other browsers (using Safari in my experience is even worse because it causes overheating even when there are less tabs opened compared to Firefox). So surely the problem lies within the hardware, but what could it be?

Put a brick under it, smaller then the laptop..
Then it can let of some heat underneath

reply to post by kaitain


Check the fan. It may not work properly.

Well maybe its cause your downloading alot try uninstalling some software buddy

Poor ventilation, fan dying thats what caused my laptop to overheat.

The heatsink inside the laptop is probably full of crap...depending on the make/model it could be quite easy to open it up...dust it out or sometimes just get a can of compressed air and give it a good blast

Originally posted by bhaal
Poor ventilation, fan dying thats what caused my laptop to overheat.

It is this and the accumulation of dust overtime since you don't clean your computer. Open it up and use one of those dusters to start cleaning out the dust and possibly, if your fan is not working great, replace it.

reply to post by kaitain


Check and make sure you didn't pick up a virus.

I had a nasty little malware virus a couple of weeks ago that caused my cpu to run at almost 100% all the time. My fan would run constantly and my pc would overheat and shut down.

There are some nice free clean up tools you can download. I finally got rid of the virus but it was a pain in the azz.

I would scan your computer with your antivirus software. I hope it's not a virus but I would check. (good luck.)

Ive pulled all manner of mystery creatures from laptop fans. Keep it off dirt and hair, get a cooling pad with multiple fans on it if you use it for a protracted period of time.
Laptops are not made for heavy use pure and simple, that's what a desktop is for.

Stop using it on your bed.

But really, how old is it? Do you have animals, smoke, live in a dusty environment? Sounds to me like it's time to get a proper clean out. Unless you feel comfortable opening it up (which is a pain, trust me) it might be time to take it to get a good cleaning and fresh application of thermal paste.

Oh, one last thing, *vacuum all of your vents and openings. And no, this isn't going to cause a static charge that will destroy your system. Now, I wouldn't vacuum a motherboard, but it's safe to vacuum the case openings, I do it weekly on all of my electronics.

*Don't use compressed air to clean it, that just blows crap back into your case.

Make sure you don't have too much starting with your system.

Type msconfig into the start bar, go to your startup tab, and make sure only programs you want running are starting with the system, such as virus protection (other than that, I'd disable all).

Download and run Spybot search and destroy, just make sure not to install any extras such as tool bars.

No tool bars!!! Your browser should have as few extras as possible, since this just overworks the system, and degrades your systems performance.

Check out this page, good information for keeping a well maintained system.
Life hacker "How to speed up, clean up your system"

*Mac
How to speed up, clean up, and revive your mac

It's none of the above

It's you're battery get a new one

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it's Macbook Pro 7,1.

reply to post by kaitain


A few things to try, without actually getting a temperature monitor program (you might already have some sensors giving readings in your BIOS)

clean out the fan vents, all of them. Us compressed air or a static free vacuum. If too much dust has caked up inside the fan the bearings will go and it will not spin properly, and will be loud.

Are you placing your laptop on a flat surface? Try resting it on something, typically they have a vent on the bottom that doesn't get enough airflow without being on some type of standoffs. If it's a wood surface, they tended to radiate heat and can cause overheating.

I'm surprised you are only noticing this when browsing, but who knows what you are doing other than that so it might not present as easily.

It's hard, but can you be sure the sound is your fan, not your harddrive? A failing harddrive will create a similar whizzing sound sometimes when it's spinning up, and you'd see this when you first open your browser

reply to post by phishyblankwaters


Everything the above poster said + as a last resort use one of these...



This one is overkill but you can get one for $10 bucks.

reply to post by phishyblankwaters


Don't use compressed air... It just pushes the dust back in.

You won't damage your system by using a normal vacuum on the exterior of it. ... I'm 32 and have vacuumed my systems for as long as I can remember, never a problem (other than clean vents).

Other than that, what he said is fine.

reply to post by luciddream


I actually have that (yes, the exact same one) but the fans no longer spins.

make friends with a computer geek they love doing things like this and will do it for a fraction of the cost of a shop thats what i do

reply to post by Chargeit


How'd you guess that I uses my laptop on my bed? But still, even when I places them on a table or desk it still overheats. I also don't have any animals in my house, unless you're counting the occasional ants and cockroaches.

If I might make a suggestion? Get an SSD drive, as they have come down radically in price, and swap out the magnetic drive that's likely in it now. My laptop went from being a small space heater to something I can have on blankets to use in bed with no real issue. I was amazed at how little was the CPU and how much had been the hard drive all along.

The last one I bought even came with an adapter that plugs into the back of the SSD across data and power with one piece and then into a USB port for easy and quick disk duplication before swapping.

(It also raised battery life by a very large amount and made boot-up time a few seconds ..literally. Like light speed for windows)

Lap tops suck i suppose they are ok for on the move but i can do everything a basic laptop can do on my android phone.get a desktop pc if you can mine runs great and at a very cool temp of 15c and it is silent,not like my old pc that sounded like an hair dryer.