“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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March 8th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
sorry, i just need help for my toshiba laptop satellite M 100, since last three weeks the date time propertiy desnt work properly, when the laptop is on it works, but if the laptop is off, it doesnt run, please help me., thanks
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Geez…It seem that GPU isn’t actively cooled in satellite M40!!! what a shitty job from Toshiba!! anybody know how to enhance GPU cooling in this model?Any fan can fit there?? :/
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Theodore Baworo,
That could be memory related problem.
1. Try reseating the memory module.
2. If you have two memory modules, test the laptop with each one separately. This way you can find the faulty module.
3. Rum Memtest86+ and see if you get any memory errors.
Could be a software related problem. Read through comments in this post, take a look at the comment 23. It might help.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Ken Smith,
I don’t think it’s a heat related issue. Something else is going on with the laptop.
Did you try reinstalling software back to factory defaults from the recovery disc?
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:00 am
My Toshiba Setalite laptop does the similar problem too as mentioned above. Sometimes when I switch on my laptop, the power light comes on but doesn’t come on at all on the monitor. It makes me swtich off the laptop and on it again. Even 3 to 4 times and then it comes on normally. This is so annoying.
Further, my windows media player does not function well either. It takes time when playing videos or music. The video plays but pauses and then plays and pauses and on and on, like the CD is scratched but not that as I’ve tested playing new CDs. This problem applies to playing music as well.
I have tried installing VLC to support my video files but was not successful and also tried installing Jukebox and Winamp for my audio files but was rediculously hopeless!…Is there any advice out there that I can be enlighten with?….
Thanks in advance for your responses.
Theodore Baworo
March 2nd, 2009 at 5:15 pm
My Toshiba A100 also shuts down unexpectedly just like above.
One diference, however, is that when it comes back on I get messages such as “Toshiba Flash Cards Have Stopped Working”…”Microsoft Windows Has Stopped Working”…and on, and on.
Sometimes it will work for an hour…sometimes it will never work.
Is this still the same problem with dust?
Thanks,
Ken Smith
March 1st, 2009 at 2:26 pm
ya this problem was annoying but i didn’t have to take my laptop apart to fix it. grab a shop n’ vac and put it to the vents on this side and bottom. it usually gets a decent amount dust out.
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:57 am
The Toshiba Satellite M45-s359 system unit I purchased from Best Buy in Florence has never performed right from day one! I really believe I was sold a return item, as new. I will never buy anything again from Best Buy or Toshiba. I spent more time trying to get it to work than enjoying an expensive laptop. I blame the poor performance of this approximately $2000.00 Laptop,Toshiba, & Best Buy for my failure to succeed in the business world.
February 18th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Yeah I agree the best way to fix a overheating laptop computer is to blow it out. Canned air should work, but if not, an air compressor will always do the job.
February 16th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Just taking a job in a sales office as Laptop Engineer. I only did hands-on-training. Thinks am good but catching fever already. Pls how do I build a wealth of drivers and replacement components to work with