“My Toshiba laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without any warning. Sometimes it works fine for hours, sometimes it shuts down in 10-15 minutes.” This complaint we hear from our customers over and over again. About 15-20% of all Toshiba laptops we get for repair, suffer from an overheating problem. Yep, OVERHEATING!
This is one of the most common problems with Toshiba laptops we deal with.
Indications of laptop overheating problem:
- The keyboard and the bottom of your laptop are very hot when the laptop is working.
- The CPU fans are working all the time at maximum rotation speed and operate much louder than before.
- The laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning. When it just started, the laptop was shutting down after 1-2 hours and how it shuts down after 5-10 minutes of operation.
- The laptop works fine when it runs idle, but shuts down as soon as you start using any memory demanding applications (DVD player, image editing software, video editing software, etc.).
Solution:
If the CPU heatsink is not clogged with dust and lint completely, you can use canned air and just blow it inside the laptop through the openings on the bottom and on the sides. It’s nice as a precaution measure, but it might not work if your laptop already has a problem and the heatsink is completely clogged.
- Open the laptop case, so you can access the CPU fan and the heatsink. In some cases you can access the heatsink through the latch on the bottom of the laptop. Sometimes (for example Toshiba Satellite A70/A75) you have to open the laptop case all the way down.
- Carefully disconnect the fan cables on the system board and remove the fan. If the fan makes unusual sound when it spins (grinding sound), I would recommend to replace the fan.
- Clean the fan and the heatsink with compressed air.
- I would also recommend removing old thermal grease from the CPU and applying new grease for better heat conductivity.
UPDATE: I just received a nice tip from MC N’Colorado. I think it could be useful for all of you with guys:
I decided to use a shop vac to suck the dust out and it worked. I tested it by letting the machine run all night and it worked. It’s been a couple of weeks now and I’m glad I did it. I was ready to take the machine apart, now I’m glad I didn’t. I’d suggest you use a heavy duty shop vac to clean out the fan and heat sinks first.
I agree. Try to fix the problem without taking the laptop apart first but I would recommend using a powerful air compressor instead of a vacuum cleaner.
If your laptop is still under warranty, you can take it to any Toshiba Authorize Service Provider and fix the problem at no charge to you.
Toshiba laptop disassembly guides with pictures and instructions.
Toshiba Satellite A15 Clogged Heatsink
Toshiba Satellite A35 Clogged Heatsink
Toshiba Satellite P15 Clogged Heatsink. Absolute champion!
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November 29th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Johannes,
Sounds like a problem with the hard drive.
1. Try reconnecting the hard drive.
2. Try replacing the hard drive.
November 29th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Kathleen,
I don’t think that your problem is related to overheating.
Your problem sounds more like the motherboard failure.
November 25th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
I have a toshiba A135 it’s about 3 years old and has worked great until last week. Then it shut down and I didn’t have any power to the computer. I opened it up and cleaned it out and it started back up again. I used it for about three days and then the computer shut down and no AC power light again. I waited about 3 hours and then the AC light came back on. The battery was OK and it would start with the battery. Do you think this might be a fan problem with overheating? Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks
November 24th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Hi guys,
after having had the same problem with ventilator with our Toshiba SA10 S703 we have now a bigger problem:
It is now saying “a disk read error occurred press control alt del”
Unfortunately nothing happens!
Who can help us!
Thanks a lot!
Kind regards
Johannes
November 16th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
pink32,
Is it a Toshiba laptop? Asking for a BIOS password you have never set up? It’s a known issue with some newer Toshiba laptops.
Call Toshiba and ask them to remove the BIOS password at no charge even if the laptop is out of warranty.
November 16th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
my comp is asking for a password as soon as I turn it on, I have never had to have a password before. Why is this happening?
November 16th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
ACK,
It’s possible that you damaged the motherboard.
Do not install the battery or plug AC adapter until you remove the keyboard and take a closer look at the damage.
You’ll find laptop disassembly instructions at http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
Clean the spill under the keyboard.
November 16th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I have a Qosmio G25-AV513. Spilled some milk all over the keyboard and i immediately shut down the computer. Now it won’t turn on again (after roughly 1/2 hour).
Steps taken so far: Shut down computer. Dry cloth to absorb excess liquid. Removed battery. Removed power cord. Laptop is currently open and standing on its side to dry.
I have not (nor do I know how to) removed the keyboard or opened the computer at all.
Any hints on next steps?
TIA.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:43 am
help me,
Try using CTRL, ALT and UP arrow key to flip it back.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:07 am
the display on my tosheba laptop is upside down and i dont know how to make it flip back. any ideas