TIPS FOR OVERHEATED LAPTOPS

Laptops are machines, and they do overheat. No matter what any company says about their laptops, it is an inevitable fact that all laptops do tend to overheat at some moment or the other. Now firstly, let us understand how laptops work.

Laptops have an internal system of functioning, just like any CPU or for that matter, any other electronic device. Now since a lot of electricity passes through these internal parts, and a LOT of processes take place every second of you operating the machine, as a result, these circuits and systems tend to become hot due to all the activity.

Before you start blaming your laptop manufacturer right away, you must understand that most laptops manufactured after the year 2003 tend to have prevention measures in place for overheating. These laptops have certain vents on their lower body (on the sides and bottom) which allow the hot air to pass out of the laptop after it is blown away by a fan inside the machine (or a blower)

I know certain tech geeks who insist on taking off the lower covering of their laptop whenever they go hardcore gaming or into any other process that requires a lot of CPU usage. This helps a LOT in fact but for most normal people this isn’t the obvious *way to go* solution. So what can you do to prevent your laptop from overheating then?

- Don’t use in high temperatures
Don’t use your laptop when the temperature is high (Above 40 degrees). This might cause your laptop to overheat very quickly (as normally the laptop is hotter than the outside temperature, which is called the base temperature).

- Prevent use in humid conditions
Don’t use your laptop for a very long time (exceeding two hours) or for gaming when the conditions are above 60% humid. Because this causes the hot air blown out of the laptop to find it difficult to escape (Since vapor is generally denser than normal air and the molecules find it pave their way out)

- NEVER Block the vents
Your Laptop’s air outlets or vents are its best friends, NEVER block them, especially the vents at the bottom of the laptop, they put a lot of air out, therefore always keep your laptop on something which provides sufficient area for the hot air to escape (preferably some sort of a stand). If you keep your laptop on your lap, try to put something on your lap first so it doesn’t block the vents.

- Never leave a running laptop closed
Sometimes people tend to leave their running laptops closed, as in, they powered a laptop on but didn’t turn it off and just closed it that way and kept it inside some enclosed place. If you do this, there is a high chance your laptop’s hardware gets fried due to the trapping of hot air.

- Don’t go hardcore
Laptops are meant for casual usage, yet sometimes people insist on gaming on their laptops, there is no problem with gaming on a laptop, but when you go on for a LONG time (2 hours plus) it becomes inevitable for the laptop to sustain some damage due to overheating caused by your actions. Not just gaming, this applies even to the usage of softwares which are high on CPU usage (Photoshop, CS, Flashy GUI stuff). If you want to game/use these softwares, do it, but try not to exceed a few hours.

- Turn your laptop OFF sometimes
A lot of people don’t turn their laptop off, which is not just a major cause of all overheating problems, but actually of ALL laptop problems. Ideally, one should turn their laptop off for at least five-six hours everyday so that it is cooled off. By cooled off I don’t mean the cooling of the outer crust, but there are SEVERAL internal parts of laptops which don’t cool easily, they need time, and to get the most out of your laptop, you need to take care of them as well.

- Get more cooling
You could install some extra cooling for your laptop, something like a small water cooler, you know the ones found in certain high end gaming CPU’s, something like that, and then you could affix a place for the actual blower inside the laptop in a way such that the cooler could be taken out and carried with you and your laptop, it would require extra power supply of course.

- Clean your Laptop sometimes
You must clean the internal area of your laptop sometimes, the recommended time is every two months. IF you believe you cannot do it, take your laptop to some repair shop and get it done. A laptop is frequently exposed to outside surroundings and hence has the biggest chance of catching dust hence obstructing the flow of hot air to the outside of the laptop.

Also, if ever your Laptop gets overheated and shuts down (for the first time) DO NOT turn it on until it has cooled off, or else there is a big possibility your laptop would get overheated and get some permanent damage on it.

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