Laptop getting hot

nanokitten

I have a Dell inspiron 1501 laptop running XP and its about 2 years old, (well out of warrantee)..
When I use it, the laptop is getting extremely hot - not around the battery but mainly where the processor and ram are located. I always use a board to stand it on and have tried sticking felt feet on to improve the clearence underneath. I spent a whole day scanning for meanies (with the help of you guys) and found nothing and have stopped all unneccessary processes from running in the background.
It seems to get hottest when listening to audiobooks with media player and several times the laptop has shut itself down (I asssume in self defence).

I can't hear a fan running (and never have) and no warm air blows out of the vents.
I've found service manuals on Dell's website but not sure what the best thing to do is (I'm reasonably practical but have rarely needed to perform an 'operation' on my computer before).
Advice would be greatfuly recieved.
L.

macman

Have you blown all the dust out of the fan and vents with a can of compressed air?
If it's gettting that hot you should defintiely hear the fan kick in, which makes me think that either the fan has failed or there is a problem with the software that controls it.

jweb2k

Does sound like a fan failure. Get fan test software and see if your laptop is cooling.

sporedude

Update the BIOS, Worked for me.

slow_saver

nanokitten wrote: »

I have a Dell inspiron 1501 laptop running XP and its about 2 years old, (well out of warrantee)..
When I use it, the laptop is getting extremely hot - not around the battery but mainly where the processor and ram are located. I always use a board to stand it on and have tried sticking felt feet on to improve the clearence underneath. I spent a whole day scanning for meanies (with the help of you guys) and found nothing and have stopped all unneccessary processes from running in the background.
It seems to get hottest when listening to audiobooks with media player and several times the laptop has shut itself down (I asssume in self defence).

I can't hear a fan running (and never have) and no warm air blows out of the vents.
I've found service manuals on Dell's website but not sure what the best thing to do is (I'm reasonably practical but have rarely needed to perform an 'operation' on my computer before).
Advice would be greatfuly recieved.
L.

Have you got a manual for your laptop? Here is a link for a manual (PDF) which may help you test your laptop for faults;
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1501/en/om_en/pdf/HN926A00.pdf

nanokitten

cheers guys, Can anyone reccommend fan testing software to dowload.
Unfortunatly the fan in my laptop is just about under everything so to get to it ill have to take of the keyboard and screen and proccessor to get at it, once I have cleaned out all the gunk is there anything else I should do whilst I'm in there?

KAB_3

nanokitten wrote: »

cheers guys, Can anyone reccommend fan testing software to dowload.

There is one specifically for Dell's written by an enthusiast... try it here (free). Install it, see what sensors and fans it finds then try the 'force fans to high speed' option.

For better temperature graphs I like this one (21 day trial) but it may not identify every sensor in your laptop.

Dell's are quite easy to work on, so replacing a fan shouldn't be too difficult.

nanokitten

Ok, updated the bios and tried both the above programs, the first one wont read the cpu temp at all and wont start, the second one just gives CPU load and speed, no temperature or fan data. Gonna give laptop a springclean under the bonnet tomorrow (fles backed up, can of air found, instructions printed) but starting to wonder if its something more fundamental such as the sensors not working. Not sure what I do if thats the case.

Anne_Marie_2

Have a look at Notebook Hardware Control. http://www.pbus-167.com/

tonyhamm

I use notebook hardware control. I also have a 1501 which has tripped a few times due to CPU heat. I found it was a problem whenever I burnt a DVD. It would creep to 75C and then turn off - wreaking the DVD burn.
I forcefully blew air down the vents and next time i switched it on the CPU was at 55 C max when burning. Months later, it got hot a few times after that - but just blowing the fluff/hair etc.. must move from the CPU and its solved. I dont think you are really going to 'solve' this problem once and for all as long as there is dust and hair about.

Anne_Marie_2

I also use a laptop cooling stand which has significantly lowered CPU and HD temperature. http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3515306/Belkin-Laptop-Cooling-Platform-With-USB-Powered-Fan/Product.html although the price seems to have jumped up since I bought it.