“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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February 14th, 2007 at 2:13 am
Please sir, my Toshiba laptop is runing very slow and. so pls help me out.
thank u.
joe
February 12th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
I have a Toshiba laptop Satellite series s2112 (I think). Anyway, when turning it on today, the power button fell into the laptop. Any suggestions of where to get a replacement or how to repair this (knowing WHY it happened would be nice also).
Thanks! Great site!
February 11th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
ragesh,
Sure, I have a guide for cleaning up the heat sink on a Toshiba Satellite P15 notebook, it would be the same for Satellite P10.
Some tips. Do not remove the heat sink from the processor if you don’t have new thermal grease. Just remove the cooling fan, blow off the heat sink and install the fan back. If you decide to remove the heat sink, be careful. The processor might come out with the heat sink. If it does do this.
1. carefully separate the processor from the heat sink
2. unlock the CPU socket on the motherboard
3. install the processor back in place and lock the socket
If you forget to lock the CPU socket the laptop will not boot up and you’ll get just a black screen on start up.
February 11th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I have a Satellite p10-803 with the similiar shutdown problem. What would the steps be to clean that? Would there be some set of steps with pics available?
February 9th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
I have a pos A75 laptop that has been overheating for about 6 months, particularly when I watch a video or use google earth.
I tried the vaccum technique, but first I used canned air and sprayed it in all of the vent holes and fans to break up the dust.
I then used a vaccum for about 5 minutes just holding it over the various holes…and….
It worked! The laptop hasn’t overheated since I did this (about a week ago), and it is quieter than any period in the last 6 months.
February 5th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Carol Nielander,
Do you have a widescreen notebook? Maybe the screen resolution is not correct and you should change it?
Right click on the desktop – Properties – Settings – Screen resolution.
February 5th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Cheri,
I believe this settlement is good only for computers sold in the United States.
I think I know where the F8 screw comes from. Remove the hard drive and then remove the DVD drive, you’ll see a hole in the hard drive bay. Do you see “Do Not Forget” screw on the step 6? I think you forgot this one.
February 4th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Chris,
If you minimized the laptop completely and left only the motherboard (memory is onboard) with the processor, but still nave no video on the screen, then either the motherboard or processor is bad. It looks like you have a problem with the motherboard.
February 4th, 2007 at 10:36 am
my picture is distorted. I don’t know what I hit but everything is much wider then it should be. Can you help me. Thanks
February 4th, 2007 at 6:03 am
Oops! forgot a question.
While putting back together my laptop I have 2-3 screws left over. Yikes! I’m not sure where they go exactly. My computer is working so I’m thinking it won’t matter too much. The screws left over are a F8 and another one. I saw that most were labled(on the laptop) F3,F5 & F8. These came off while disconnecting the board (not labeled). Is this something I should find out? The screw is a little bit smaller than the F8 but bigger than the F3 and F5.