“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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July 22nd, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Hi!
I recently bought a toshiba satellite A135-S4527..about two weeks ago..
Today , I was working fine as usual…
Suddenly, the computer doesn’t responde anymore and finally turned off…
Since then it has been IMPOSSIBLE to turn on the computer again…When I push the power button nothing happens..
I wonder if it is a overheating problem or a battery problem..
I was working with AC power cord connected…
Thanksf for your help..
July 22nd, 2007 at 2:59 am
lol if ur computer is running at 68GHz it would be super fast, u click on a folder and it opens all its subfolders within half a second XD
July 21st, 2007 at 2:31 pm
A Dean,
July 21st, 2007 at 12:22 pm
aping,
Did you try calling Toshiba and ask if you can purchase recovery CDs from them? It shouldn’t be very expensive. I think you can get them for about $40.
Here’s another source, search for “1905 recovery”. I just found a set of CDs for your laptop for $26. I think this is a great price.
July 21st, 2007 at 11:31 am
Kevin,
Thank you for your advise.
When I suspect overheating, I usually run the memory test because it takes lots of CPU power. If the laptop shuts down during the memory test, most likely it happens because of overheating. Clean the heatsink and see if it makes any difference.
July 20th, 2007 at 6:45 am
I have a problem with my Satellite that usually occurs when it is idle. It shows a blue screen with a lot of info on it about new software causing a conflict, counts down for about 10 seconds (numbers appear at the bottom) then shuts down. It immediately reboots back to the main windows screen, but any unsaved work is lost. Any suggestions?
July 20th, 2007 at 5:39 am
What happens, is the machine will turn on for a couple minutes and then will shut down, it will not start up again, I have to unplug the power and sometimes it will start back up.
I cleaned the machine out, but does the fan run once you turn it on or just after it heats up?
I dont think it is the fan, I have to pull the battery out and unplug the machine for a few minute, before I can turn it back on. once it shuts off and you try and turn the laptop back on, the pplug light just blinks amber,
1 long, 3 short, 1long, 1 short, 1long
Thanks
July 19th, 2007 at 1:30 am
hi all,
i need recovery cds for my notebook toshiba satellite 1905-s301,because mine are crash (disc 2 and 3) somebody can help me to send it to me? contact on my email: april_id2000@yahoo.com. please. thanks alot and great site…
July 16th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Thans for the great article. I was having a problem with my Toshiba laptop also and suspected overheating. The heatsink looked totally clean from the outside but when I opened it up there was a ton of dust clogging the not-exterior-ly visible side. A good cleaning with a vacuumn and its good to go again.
Just a note in case this was missed: your laptop will run hotter when its doing more work. Especially on units that ramp up their speed based on processor demand. Test out the fix by doing something processor-intensive like video conversion.
July 13th, 2007 at 7:12 am
Great Site,
I have an A105-S2716 that has been working flawlessly for the past year and 1/2. I was working on it last night, left it alone for a couple of hours and when I came back the screen was black, it was shut down and no LEDs.
To Ryan: I moved this comment to the Satellite A105 thread.