Adam_B
Member
Registered: 13th Dec 00
Location: Lancashire
User status: Offline
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Hi, my dads laptop keeps getting really hot and then shutting down after 15-20 mins use.
I pulled the back off and there was't much dust but cleaned it anyway, didn't make any difference.
Had a look at the task manager thingy and the cpu is running constantly between 60-100%. Could this be caused by a virus or is it something else? 
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Ian
Site Administrator
Registered: 28th Aug 99
Location: Liverpool
User status: Offline
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CPU usage will be what's doing it, and that sounds virus-like.
Give these a go.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html
http://free.avg.com/gb-en/homepage
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Steve
Premium Member
Registered: 30th Mar 02
Location: Worcestershire Drives: Defender
User status: Offline
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Try a system restore to a point you know it was ok
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Sam
Moderator
Premium Member
Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
User status: Offline
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HP laptop?
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Brett
Premium Member
Registered: 16th Dec 02
Location: Manchester
User status: Offline
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Mrs laptop used to be loud and shutdown constantly after 15-20mins like this once it got hot. Had to pop the fans/heatsinks off and re-paste the lot. Works great since and is really quiet again now.
[Edited on 21-06-2011 by loafofbrett]
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Adam_B
Member
Registered: 13th Dec 00
Location: Lancashire
User status: Offline
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Yes it is a HP Pavillion Sam, why ?
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Sam
Moderator
Premium Member
Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
User status: Offline
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Certain HP laptops (Pavilion included) have a notorious fault with overheating. This is due to the nVidia graphics chip overheating because of poor airflow.
HP issued a BIOS update to make the fans come on at lower temperatures and to stay on for longer but it didn't fix the problem, resulting in lots of HP laptops becoming fucked and many people filing a class action suit against HP (do a Google for "nVidia defect").
You have a couple of options:
- try to get some/all of your money back/replacement laptop from the retailer as your one is not fit for purpose: not an easy task and requires a engineer's report as proof for the retailer ~ £60ish
- get the GPU reballed (resoldered) and latest firmware installed in the BIOS to keep it cooler: the overheating will cause the solder to get fucked up and cause various problems with graphics/wireless LAN not working etc. etc. ~ £100ish
If your laptop hasn't got to the stage of having various problems above, you could try as Brett says and put some new thermal paste between the heatsinks/fans (HP use shitty thermal pads which are useless) and update the BIOS to help keep it running cooler. Some decent thermal paste will only cost you about a fiver, much cheaper than the other things that you might have to do above if the problem gets to an advanced stage.
There might of course be a program that could be running all the time (i.e. virus scan) that some of these lot said could cause it to run hot due to constant CPU usage but you should bear in mind my point about applying new thermal paste to stop the extra (expensive) problems this may lead to...
P.S. sorry I hope this all makes sense 
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Adam_B
Member
Registered: 13th Dec 00
Location: Lancashire
User status: Offline
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thats ace Sam cheers, however the laptop is a few years old now so any warranty job is out the window
new flaptop time!
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John
Member
Registered: 30th Jun 03
User status: Offline
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There are loads of faulty nvidia's out there, in loads of manufacturers.
If the laptop is running at 100% CPU constantly though that'll be what's causing it in this instance.
Format before buying a new one.
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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nVidia fucked up with the Quattro NVM's a new years ago. Silly cunts
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Welsh Dan
Member
Registered: 23rd Mar 00
User status: Offline
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I had a similar problem with my Acer.
Stripped it apart and cleaned out two years of dust and shite, put new thermal paste on the CPU and graphics chips and put it back together.
Stopped overheating and now its much quieter.
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N16K
Member
Registered: 4th Oct 04
Location: Belfast, NI Drives: Corsa D SRi, Tuned Cooper S, B
User status: Offline
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check the cooling fan is not filled with dust.
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