“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 26th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Gregory A Carlson,
It looks like you purchased a SATA hard drive and you cannot use it in a Satellite A75. SATA hard drive has a different connector and will not fit into your computer.
Send it back and purchase a regular ATA-100 IDE hard drive for notebooks.
July 26th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I bought a 250 GB replacement drive for my A75-S226. I just noticed that while the original drive is ATA-100 my replacement drive is an ATA150. Can I still use or should I send it back? It’s still in the package but it looks like maybe the pins are different.
July 11th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I have an A65 and I’m a pack a day smoker.
Every 3-5 months I use a air compressor (the kind some of us have in the garage to run our power tools – 100 psi) with a nozzle on it. I spray the compressed air from both sides, inlet (under computer) and outlet (back of computer).
NOTE: I use a small object, like a cocktail straw, to hold the fan blades still. Somes fans can be damaged by excessive RPMs.
Also, once a year, I remove any cover plates on the bottom and spray the compressed air (from a distance, not up close [you can get up close if you're using canned air]) into the openings. And don’t forget the keyboard.
Trying to remove all the dust bunnies and such (usually only go to this extent once a year).
Laptop is over 3 years old and runs 24/7.
Even though it’s been a decent computer, after experiencing Toshiba customer service on one occassion I doubt I’ll ever buy another Toshiba product.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I have the Toshiba M45. Its worked great for the last 3+ years. My roomate tried to use it the other day and when he started it up it gets to my windows password screen, then the screen shutters and then goes blank. Everytime I restart it the same thing happens. The power connection is good, no clue what is going on. I’m not too computer savy, anyone have any idea what might be causing this? Thanks
July 11th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Hello Dear i have a TOSHIBA SATELLITE A200-1P6, PSAE3E-03V01FFR, is in French Language and i want to convart it in English Language, and the key pad is coresponding well, i need a help.
July 10th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
i HAD THIS PROBLEM AND I CLEAND IT THAT WORKED THEN IT STARTED NOT CHARGING ALL OF A SUDDEN. i DID THE POWER CORD FIX. i EVEN MADE A SWEET FIX WITHOUT HAVING WIRES HANGING OUT. bUT THE ULTIMATE FIX WAS AN ACCIDENT AND I TOOK OUT A CIRCUIT TO THE WIFI BY ACCIDENTLY SLIPPING WITH THE SOLDERING IRON. eND RESULT MY WIFI DOESNT WORK . POSITIVE RESULT IT DOESNT SHUT DOWN OR STOP CHARGING NO MORE……. I USE A WIFI CARD AND ITS SWEET FREEDOM AGAIN..
July 4th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
it shut down without no answer b-cuz u nees to go to ur battery options to set up a warning
July 4th, 2008 at 6:29 am
I have the same problem and an sure it is a heating problem. When I cool the intake air, I can run any application at any speed. The same without cooling intake air shuts off the PC.
PC runs longer on low CPU speeds. But during startup it runs at max … thus PC cannot restart.
June 29th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
More….When the laptop shuts down, I have to un plug it, and take the battery out,, this happens at least twice – three times a day. what kind of problems can this cause?
June 29th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I also have problems with my computer shutting down. I have lost infomation because of this problem. I took it to the dealer and nothing happened, they just said, it’s probably a virus, I’ve only had this laptop for two months and I have an anti virus program,, this is obvioulsly not a virus problem when there are so many complaints.