Overheating might be frustrating so have you ever thought about how to fix overheating laptop without taking it apart? If you’re here, it’s because your laptop is overheating and you’re seeking methods to fix it without taking it apart.
There are several reasons why your laptop may be overheating, like executing a demanding graphics design task or playing memory-intensive games. And if you are not a laptop specialist, taking your laptop apart is the last thing you want to do. So, what are your options?
It may be difficult to achieve this without accessing the complicated inner workings of your computer, but it is not impossible. There are ways to solve the problem from the outside, whether it is a gaming laptop overheating, a motherboard overheating, a defective battery, or anything else.
Some of these solutions involve you making physical adjustments to your laptop, while others require you to work on your computer’s software.
Your laptop packs a lot of computing power and storage into a small package. This level of efficiency has a cost: excessive heat. Except for coffee, the most serious hazard to your laptop is overheating. It has the potential to cause hardware failure and irreparable harm.
This post will teach you how to repair an overheated laptop without disassembling it. Let’s get this party started!
The Basics Of Overheating Computers
Just because your laptop appears to be hot does not imply that it is overheating.
How Do You Know Your Laptop Is Overheating?
When you hear your computer’s fan running at full speed all the time, you know it’s overheating. Laptop fans can generate a lot of noise, which should compel you to repair them. Laptops may grow so hot from insufficient cooling that contacting the chassis becomes dangerous.
You may even notice diminished performance at that time because current CPUs may reduce the clock speed to alleviate heat stress. Moreover, the fail-safe software may cause a quick shutdown to prevent hardware damage.
You may use a program like HWMonitor to measure the real temperature inside your laptop. This may also identify which element of your laptop is overheating. Normally, the central processor unit (CPU) or graphics processing unit (GPU) will be the most overheated. Onboard graphics laptops may not show distinct GPU temps.
Why Is Your Laptop Overheating?
Because of insufficient cooling, your laptop continues to overheat. Dust clogging intake grills or exhaust ports, a blocked fan, or degenerating thermal paste or pad are all possible causes. A thermal pad, also known as thermal paste, is a heat-conductive substance that links the CPU or GPU to a metal heat sink, which transfers heat away from the processor units, often to a cooling fan.
You can repair an overheated laptop yourself, albeit some tasks, such as adding fresh thermal paste to the CPU, are more difficult than others. Try our simple methods first if you need a quick fix and can’t de-lid your CPU or GPU and apply fresh thermal compound.
Can A Fanless Laptop With Passive Cooling Overheat?
To manage heat, fanless laptops employ passive cooling techniques such as dispersing heat throughout the whole metal body or lowering Processor clock speeds.
If you can’t hear a fan or detect intake grills or exhaust ports, your laptop is probably using passive cooling. This means that your computer will not overheat, but you may notice a decrease in performance as heat stress increases.
There’s not much you can do because laptops with passive cooling don’t have fans. But, by managing the extra heat with external cooling, you can regain processing power lost due to CPU throttling. If your laptop does not have a fan, go to the cooling pad portion below.
How To Fix Overheating Laptop Without Taking It Apart?
There are several methods for repairing an overheated laptop from the outside, depending on what is causing the overheating. Before you can address a problem, you must first recognize it.
Overheating is sometimes an indication of another issue. After you resolve that issue, the overheating will be resolved. Sometimes the repairs are difficult to find, costly to repair, or need more technical expertise than you have.
Clean Your Laptop Vents And Fans Regularly
One of the most common causes of an overheated laptop is dust and debris clogging the vents and fans. You should disassemble your laptop to obtain the finest clean.
You may, however, undertake some exterior cleaning to eliminate any apparent dust. To complete the task, you’ll need to use a soft, lint-free cloth. Do not use canned air since blasting it directly into the computer might cause further issues.
If your laptop is fresh new, dust is unlikely to be an issue. But, if your computer has gradually become hotter over time or is older, the first thing you should eliminate is dust.
If your laptop is older and you want to thoroughly clean it, access to the vents and fans normally just needs a few screws to be removed with a screwdriver.
Even if this step does not fix your problem, it will certainly improve it.
Using A Cooling Pad When Using Your Laptop
If your laptop overheats due to a heated climate (for example, it’s summer and you don’t have air conditioning), a laptop cooling pad is a good place to start.
A cooling pad powers one or more fans through a USB connector. Frequently, the fans do not create cool air; rather, they draw hot air away from the computer.
Be Smart About Using Your Laptop
The good news is that your laptop may not have any problems. Alternatively, you may be using it on a surface that absorbs heat rather than allowing it to disperse. If the bottom of your laptop becomes heated, the fans and vents may be obstructed.
Do not use your laptop on a pillow, sofa, bed, or another soft surface that might cause the vents to get clogged. Use a firm surface instead, such as a desk, table, or laptop cooling pad.
Always Keep It Cool
If you’ve ever visited a computer lab at a school or university, you’ve noticed how frigid it was. Computers are designed to be stored and utilized in cooler climates.
This does not imply that they must be frozen, although temperatures beyond 80 degrees Fahrenheit may cause operational troubles including overheating.
If it is hard to keep your computer cold, you may consider purchasing an external cooling system to assist you. Your fans will require assistance.
Close Heavy Applications
We’ve all seen those apps that slow down our computers, increase the speed of our fans, or just consume more of our resources. This is the quickest option on the list because it takes less than a minute.
Ctrl, Alt, and Delete together will bring up the task manager. Search for processes that are consuming the most of your CPU.
You will be unable to close some of these programs. Background processors, such as those used by Windows to set up updates or your antivirus, might cause your computer to overheat.
Download Software To Check The Temperature
If you are just beginning to detect a heat problem, you may wish to download some tracking software. As your computer begins to overheat, this program will notify you, and you may take mental or physical notes to help you diagnose the problem.
Certain gaming laptops, for example, can overheat when you play specific sorts of games, but you may not notice it right away. Keep your program running in the background so that you may be notified if your laptop begins to overheat.
Depending on the program, you will receive temperature-lowering recommendations, such as lowering the settings.
Check For Pounds
In certain circumstances, hardware and software changes can alleviate overheating. Every component of your computer will require updates at some time, and if you do not have automatic updates enabled, you must check for them manually.
To repair an overheated laptop, remove everything that contributes to the heat. This might be anything as basic as a keyboard update or as substantial as a motherboard upgrade.
Install Updates
Your computer may require upgrades from time to time to function correctly. If you put off updating your computer, anything might go wrong and cause it to overheat. The remedy is simple: install the necessary updates.
Allow these to install, then restart your computer to see if it solves the problem.
Disable CPU Turbo Boost
You should disable the CPU turbo boost on your PC if you are utilizing it. This isn’t the most common tip, but many laptop users will notice a temperature drop as soon as they switch it off. Yet, gamers will lose part of that advantage.
Turbo boost instantly overclocks your CPU so that it can handle more demanding activities like video editing, streaming, and gaming. This burns more power and demands more from your battery and hard disc, raising temps noticeably.
To accomplish this, simply follow these easy steps:
- Choose “Hardware and Sound.”
- Next, go to the “Power Options” area.
- Click on “Change Plan Settings,” which is located next to the “Selected Power Mode” (you may have to scroll)
- To modify these, go to “Advanced Power Settings.”
- Increase the size of the “Processor Power Management” and “Maximum Processor State” menus.
- Set the value to 99 percent.
- Finally, reboot your computer.
Let everything open after restarting the computer before attempting to do anything else. If this is what caused your overheating in the first place, your total temperature should drop by 10 to 20%.
Give Your Laptop Frequent Breaks
If your computer is OK and runs at a normal temperature for a long time before becoming hot, but suddenly overheats after a few hours, you may simply need to give it a rest. Shut down your computer completely, keep it out of direct sunlight, and allow it to cool.
While you should not have to do this, it is an excellent strategy to ensure that an older computer will last for many years.
Reconfigure Its Fan Curve
If you see your fans slowing down, it might be due to dust or because they aren’t performing to their maximum capability quite yet. You may reduce some of the heat by increasing the speed of your fan. You will, however, boost the volume of your fan.
There isn’t a set of instructions that will work for every laptop and manufacturer. For fan settings, your best choice is to consult your manufacturer’s user handbook or the BIOS settings.
You may also try using software such as Speedfan or MSI Afterburner to see if you can make changes there.
Cap The Framerate On Your Games
We all want to push our computers to their limits, yet there are moments when you need to relax. If you are a gamer who pushes your framerate, you should limit it so that it does not cause your computer to overheat.
This isn’t the ideal idea if you’re playing a competitive game or something that demands precision mouse clicks, but it’s a decent idea in general.
To accomplish this, activate V-sync in the game’s options. This will lock your monitor’s framerate and aid in refreshes.
Your computer will conserve resources as a result, but you will not have the optimal gaming experience.
How Hot Should My Laptop Be?
Your laptop is likely to have varying temperatures based on what you are doing. While your laptop is under stress, it will run at a greater temperature than when it is idle or merely browsing the web.
But, if your computer exceeds 90 degrees Celsius or remains at a high temperature for an extended period, you will experience troubles.
It should be noted that most laptop components have safeguards in place that, if they become too hot, the laptop will display an error message and eventually shut down.
If this happens, data recovery may be difficult, and your machine may suffer long-term harm.
What To Do If Your Laptop Overheats?
If your laptop overheats, you must take action as soon as possible. The sooner you can reduce the temperature, the less likely irreversible harm will occur.
Follow these instructions as soon as you notice the temperature is too high or you see the blue screen:
- If it hasn’t already, turn off your computer.
- Disconnect all computer wires, including the power cord.
- Remove any external devices, such as mice, keyboards, USB drives, and other such items.
- If at all feasible, remove the battery.
This is the most you’ll have to do in terms of disassembling it. These minor procedures will help things cool considerably faster. Investigate the cause of your laptop’s overheating.
Signs Your Computer Is Going To Overheat
If your computer overheats, the best method to avoid long-term harm is to recognize the indicators of overheating. Some of these symptoms might be caused by other issues, but after a few occurrences, you should be able to identify the signals from your laptop.
Keep an eye out for the following warning signs:
- Your fan becomes louder and quicker.
- Your computer has difficulty doing basic activities such as loading a website. Lines show on your screen.
- A blue screen of death appears.
- You receive error warnings.
- Your laptop is too hot to touch naked skin.
- Your laptop abruptly shuts off.
- Your battery cable becomes warm.
Final Verdict
If you’ve tried all of the techniques above and still can’t bring your laptop’s internal temperature down, it’s possible that your laptop was just poorly constructed. One of the most serious problems with low-cost laptops is that they are not intended for cooling. They lack powerful fans and enough vents, and the heated air is not dispersed.
When your computer is badly constructed, there is little you can do about it. But, you can aid your laptop by following the procedures outlined above, keeping it in a cool environment, cleaning it regularly, and giving it breaks on occasion.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some common signs of an overheating laptop?
If your laptop’s fan is running at full speed all the time, it could be a sign of overheating. This is because laptop fans generate a lot of noise, which should prompt you to take a look at your laptop’s temperature. Other signs of an overheating laptop include diminished performance due to CPUs reducing the clock speed to alleviate heat stress and fail-safe software that causes a quick shutdown to prevent hardware damage. You can use a program like HWMonitor to measure the real temperature inside your laptop, which may also help identify which element of your laptop is overheating. Normally, the central processor unit (CPU) or graphics processing unit (GPU) will be the most overheated. Onboard graphics laptops may not show distinct GPU temps.
Can software cause a laptop to overheat?
Yes, the software can cause a laptop to overheat. Programs that use a lot of processing power, such as video editing software or games, can cause the CPU and GPU to work harder, which in turn generates more heat. Additionally, malware and viruses can cause a laptop to overheat by running malicious processes in the background that consume CPU resources.
How can I monitor the temperature of my laptop?
There are several programs you can use to monitor the temperature of your laptop, such as HWMonitor, Core Temp, and SpeedFan. These programs provide real-time temperature readings for your CPU, GPU, and other components. Some laptops may also have built-in temperature monitoring tools in the BIOS or UEFI settings. Additionally, some laptops come with manufacturer-specific software that can monitor the temperature and performance of the laptop.
