Laptop gets overheated and shuts off automatically. Why?

You've got some good suggestions here. Try a small household fan if you have one. Set it up to blow over the cooling vents. See if it helps. Lappies usually run hot, its a given. Sounds like a fan problem, maybe dust clogging it. Have you tried canned air into the vents?

Does it have a Life line? Where the battery will only allow it to shut off at certain amount of given time? If so, then that is why it may be doing this.. Or maybe you should shut it off for only a little while, and then turn it back on.. All else fails seek, Technical Help with Dell.

It sounds like there is a fault which is causing the processor to run hot. It shuts down automatically when the temperature gets to the point where the processor would be damaged if you continued. You should get it looked at especially as the problem seems to be getting worse.

make sure the fan is kicking on, there is something you can buy that your laptop sits on the keep it cooler. my wife got me one, think she got it from best buy. but yeah check the fan to make sure it's coming on, try to take your vacum and sticks it by the fan and see if there is dust in there. don't pull it apart if you aren't sure what you are doing they can be a pain to put back together..

it could be the harddrive and the overclocked cpu that overheats like crazy... now i'm pretty surprised to see people having some problems with dell products (no offense, but wow) like, i'm pretty sure that the harddrive is heating up pretty quickly, especially if you have your laptop turned on, and if the harddrive makes too much noise (western digital harddrives, especially), then i believe that's one factor that causes your laptop to overheat.

There are two things that can be wrong with it. One is that you cover the area through which the fans cools down the laptop. That vent is either on the side or at the back of the laptop. Make sure that it is not covered when you use your laptop. Another thing is that the fan might be clogged up with dust or something else. It can also be broken. So pretty much it is something with the fan.

Mine does that sometimes. Laptops over heat quite a bit. You have to make sure that the bottom of the computer isn't covered, so the heat can get out. It could be that your fan is going out too. I just bought a fan that sits underneath the computer, and it seems to work well. You can find them just about anywhere, the cheapest about 20 dollars.

i just have had these experience with the lenovo laptop my brother had. it was such an experience. anyway... there are laptop heat pads you can buy that will help your laptop lessen the heat. my friend have one and said it is really effective. you can put it on your usb drive and won't even hace to put it on an electric plug for it to work. goodluck.

What do you expect? Dell's are cheap shIte. Your best solution is to sell it and get a proper machine. I can supply you with a new HP for less than I imagine you paid for that, which will be far more reliable all the best urban

I'm guessing that you need to reboot if the situation persists. That had happened to me before and suddenly I get this error of 'manual malfunction'. Wonder what that was and it was a real bummer because every time I tried to on my laptop that was my company's, it would not on and giving me that same error message again. I'm guessing that laptops have a time line and that's one of the biggest reason that people opt for desktop computer than laptops.

I can't say that I know exactly what the problem is. I would definitely try to clean the system of all the things that could taking up resources. Or, in simpler terms, programs that run a lot, and could be taking up more memory. I would buy a USB fan for your laptop, I'm not sure where to get one, but just check the internet. Wal * Mart might even have it.

Hey, is your laptop new? If you just got it recently then you should just return it to the store or the merchant. They'll either fix it for you or replace it. If it's an old model already then that's probably why it's acting up. Most machines don't perform smoothly after a few years. I'd get a cooling pad for a quick fix but a trip to the nearest computer store would be much better in the long run.

either it has some dust accumulated, or amybe some of the cooling hardware is defective. you should get it checked. thats the best way ! =D

Hi, it could be a couple of things! Firstly, it could relate to your processor overheating as I think someone has already mentioned. Perhaps the small fan is gathering dust and thereby not being able to function properly. The other thing is, it could relate to your battery! This is just a guess though. Do you use the power supply when using your laptop? Or, do you rely solely on the battery? It's not wise to use both battery and power supply at the same time. I think it's best to remove the battery and use the power supply only. Chances are, if you have been using both then the battery can be quickly worn out. So, my thinking is, it's heat related, your fan!! Or it relates to your battery!! I wish you the best of luck. Andrew

I had the problem on my Dell inspiron and I got some relief by keeping the laptop lifted from my desk - just propped it on a block of wood or something. I also fixed a USB fan. My bro now gave me a fan base on which I can place my laptop - I've not used it but it looks promising.

At first I was thinking it was a defense mechanism of the machine to protect istself from further damage. but when you describe that the frequency has becoming more often then I was thinking that ther might be some damage on the ahrdware already and its time for you to have it checked by professionals.

I'm an HP kinda' guy. Any other brand just seems ridiculously expensive or problematic! My suggestion would be to switch over to HP! It may be a little extreme but I have yet to have a problem with cooling or anything serious with the HP computers i've used. I hear all my friends complaining about Acer, Dell, etc. All these brands that're not HP. All my friends that have HP have had very little problems with them. As people have already said a cooling pad, and replacement of fans is probably all it really needs but still. Sorry to hear of rough times. It sucks when you can't use your laptop beecause laptops are like the best invention ever. It can also be that maybe you're trying to run more then your computer can handle and it's overheating? Maybe try clearing up some programs on your computer & running some disk cleanup & defrag. Possibly even some virus scans n' etc. Anything that could speed up your laptop!

it would help to get a laptop fan. The prices on the fans run between 9-45 dollars. Your laptop is over heating.

I have a lap top that runs hot too. Especially when I use it on my lap. I solved the problem by buying one of those white metal mesh kitchen shelf things in the home store. It lets more air circulate and solved my problems. Next year I'm buying a newer super light weight one for traveling. One of those tiny 1 pond mini lap tops.

my BIL had same problem withhis lap..but its just a minor fault. i got it fixed by a technician in my place(india) within a day..he said that he has changed some components..like capacitor,etc...so its a very common problem in lap tops..get it fixed...