Laptop now seems to be slow and fans working most of the time?

faringdon · 24 April at 5:53PM

Hi,
I was using my laptop outdoors, and was logging on to
whichever free wifi was available in whichever part of
London I was in. Now my laptop seems slower, and also,
the fan seems to be whirring away all the time even when I am
barely using the laptop for anything. Do you know if someone
has put a virus on my laptop and how can I remove it?

The Laptop is a Lenovo ideapad with Windows 11 Home

JSmithy45AD · 24 April at 5:58PM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6665607/laptop-now-seems-to-be-slow-and-fans-working-most-of-the-time

And what does the virus checker say? I'm guessing everythings clear?

Sounds more like the fan intakes are clogged with fluff and dust or possibly that you've disturbed the cpu cooler and it needs cleaning and reseating.

Neil_Jones · 24 April at 6:00PM

A virus won't on its own cause the fan to go crazy, what benefit is that going to give anybody?

Its more likely the vent is blocked. If you have a full model number (see bottom of laptop usually) somebody can check what cooling system is in use, and its most likely the common and easily blocked heat pipe which looks like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf0JShqNFME&t=5s

The gap where the yellow arrow in the thumbnail is pointing gets clogged up with dust/debris and the fan can't get rid of the hot air because the outlet is blocked, so aware of the temperature the laptop decides to throttle the processor speed which makes it slower but generates less heat.

victor2 · 24 April at 6:01PM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6665607/laptop-now-seems-to-be-slow-and-fans-working-most-of-the-time

Download and run the free Malwarebytes to check for and remove any identified nasties…

However, it could just be that the laptop has got slower over time and as Windows 11 has updated itself, and maybe a clean install without bloatware is needed