A computer is basically defined as an electronic device which is capable of accepting data, processing the data and giving out the output as information.
Every electronic component on the computer has the rate at which it can resist heat and once this limit is exceeded, the component can be damaged. That said, overheating can cause adverse effects on your pc and the need to ensure that your pc is always cool does not need to be stressed.
You will be put through proven tips on how to prevent your laptop from overheating, but, before that lets take a look at the effects or possible damage that can be done to your laptop due to overheating.
Effects of Overheating Laptop (possible damages overheating can cause)
Abrupt Shutdown of Your Laptop – Overheating can cause your laptop to shutdown automatically while you are still working. This is a safety mechanism to prevent your CPU from damaging. And when you try booting your system back without letting it cool properly, it will continue to restart.
Slowing Down Processor Operating speed– overheating can cause your processor to slow down and cause your system not to operate efficiently.
Reduction in Your Laptop Battery Life – batteries operate by the chemical interaction between negative and positive charges inside the battery. When your laptop starts to overheat, it accelerates the process and makes the ions (negative and positive charges) move faster. If your pc is exposed to this high temperature continuously for a long time, it will reduce the life of your battery and duration it lasts after charging. At some point you will find out that your battery is completely dead.
Tendency to Get Your Pc Board Damaged – generally, overheating of computer poses a high risk of damaging the components on the motherboard as all the important components are connected to motherboard.
Damaging Your LCD Screen – your laptop screen can surfer damage if it closed while the laptop is heating up. In as much as it sounds silly to close the laptop while it is heating up but it is very much possible. Say you are working on your laptop and there is an emergency, you can unintentionally close your laptop lid without shutting it down and put it inside your bag. While still in operation inside and obviously there is limited ventilation inside the bag, the laptop can start to overheat and damage the screen.
Tips to Prevent Your Laptop from Overheating
Below are some of the tips that can be a solution to laptop overheating, but I think you would like to know the possible causes of overheating.
1. Installation of Compatible Windows Or Operating System
Installing incompatible OS on your computer can have various effects on your computer and overheating is one of them. So, before you install any version of the operating system on your laptop, ensure that your PC meets the basic hardware requirement for it to run.
2. Ensure Your Laptop Is Dust Free
Cleaning your laptop from time to time can reduce or stop overheating in the computer. You can take your PC to a professional if you cannot achieve this yourself. Also try and ensure that the place around which the computer is operated is dust free.
3. Always Place Your Laptop at The Correct Surface
The recommended surface to place your laptop is on hard, flat and clean surface, this will ensure the free flow of air under and around the sides of the laptop.
Also ensure that there is little space between your laptop and the surface it is placed on, laptop case comes with a small stand beneath it (mostly at the four edges) to achieve this.
Check to see if these stands are intact, a little bit of improvisation can work out fine if you find out that the stands have worn out.
4. Do Not Overcharge Your Laptop
Apart from killing your battery, overcharging can also cause laptop to heat up. So, try as much as possible to avoid overcharging.
Some laptops come with keyboard combination that disables the AC adapter from charging the battery like fn + F2.
You can deploy this key combination to stop your battery from charging once it has reached a reasonable percentage, with this, you don’t need to unplug the battery charger. You can install a battery alarm app to notify you when your battery reaches a certain charge level.
5. Ensure That Your Laptop Cooling Fan Is Working Properly
You can hear the sound of the cooling fan as it spins. Note that it is normal for the fan to stop sometimes and spin at high speed sometimes. But there is a call for concern if you don’t hear the fan spin at all or when it makes an abnormal noise. You can take it to PC maintainer to find and fix the fault.
6. Ensure That There Is Heat Paste Present on Your Computer
Heat paste is liquid that is applied between computer CPU and the heat sink, the heat paste helps to absorb the heat generated by the processor. The absence of heat paste or a degenerated one can cause laptops to heat up. You take your PC to a professional to check and apply for a new one. A newly applied heat paste can last for 2 to 3 years.
7. Deploy Laptop Cooling Pad or Stand
cooling pad is an accessory that helps to reduce the operating temperature of a laptop by improving the airflow beneath the laptop. And apart from cooling the laptop computer, the cooling pad also makes it more convenient to operate the laptop while placed on the laps. Once the laptop starts heating up, the fan(s) in the cooling pad will start to spin in an attempt to drop the laptop temperature.
A laptop stand also provides the best position for laptop while working and at same time ensures that the inlets for air and outlets for heat are never blocked.
8. Don’t Leave Your Laptop in Operation While the Lid Is Closed
As stated before, closing your laptop lid while it is still running poses a high risk to not only the laptop screen but to other components. You can take advantage of the hibernate feature to prevent this from happening.
Hibernating turns your computer off completely but allows you to resume from where you stopped next time your power on your system, fortunately, most of the OS comes with this feature.
There are various ways to trigger hibernation. Depending on how you configure your laptop, pressing the power button and closing the lid are the quickest ways to hibernate your laptop in case of emergency.
Steps to hibernate Windows on lid close
- right-click on the battery icon and select power options
- select any of these options on the left navigation pane; “choose what the power buttons do” and “choose what closing the lid do”
- In the next screen, select the respective actions you would like your PC to take when the lid is closed, when power button is pressed and when the sleep button is pressed
- Don’t forget to save your changes, by hitting the “save changes button”.
Wrapping Up
Ensuring that laptop is as cool as possible while in operation can save it from damage and also save you from unbudgeted expenses, while at the same time prolonging the life span of your laptop. I believe this article will help you to prevent your laptop from overheating or fix overheating issues with your laptop.