How to Prevent a Laptop From Overheating

Every laptop begins to overheat at one time or another if it's maintenance is not done regularly. Have you ever tried to put your hands next to laptop's fan vents?
Tried to feel the temperature on the flip side of laptop? If its hot like surface of the sun than probably your laptop is overheating. Overheating usually occurs when you don't do regular laptop maintenance. Overheating of laptop is not good, it can cause internal hardware failure and permanent damage. A sure sign that your laptop or notebook gets very hot is when it's cooling fan is always running at it's maximum speed. Because of this, your laptop's performance gets reduced as the CPU cuts back the clock rate to evade heat pressure and sometimes gets shut down without any notifications. To avoid overheating of laptop and thereby to improve it's performance follow below mentioned easy suggestions.

Avoid Doing Too Many Multiple Tasks at One Instant

Laptop's cooling fan speed increases depending on the temperature of CPU which is directly linked to the number of task it performs at one time. Less number of tasks = Less CPU usage = Low CPU temperature = Low fan speed = High performance, less heating, no random shutdowns.

Try If Any Software Helps

If you can't explore the system settings, you can download any free software tools like RightMark CPU Clock Utility through which you can control and reduce the brightness of laptop's screen or reduce the CPU clock speed. In most OS, undervolting or underclocking is done in the BIOS (Basic Input/Output system).

Unplug The system When Battery gets Fully Charged

Don't be lazy and unplug the system whenever battery is fully charged, leaving the system plugged to an electric supply for long time even after the battery has charged up fully will result into heating up your system unnecessarily. Doing this will not only avoid unnecessary heating of system but will also increase battery's life. Plug-in again when battery power becomes low. If you wish to keep it plugged all the time while your laptop is ON, you could remove the battery and plug-in back to electric supply. Now your laptop is solely working on power supply like computer, this will protect and increase battery life.

Clear Cooling Fan's Area

Make sure that there is no blockage or obstacle near the cooling fan's vent. If you find any blockage, immediately remove it. Cooling fan does the job of cooling CPU, internal components inside by sucking fresh air and blowing hot air out, if fan's enclosing area is blocked then hot air would be reflected and get trapped inside which will heat up the system and may also cause damage to hard disk, internal components.

Clean Cooling Fan From Inside

If you haven't cleaned or done the maintenance of laptop for a long time, there is a possibility of vents being accumulated by layers of dust and debris. Due to dust, less amount of air leaves/enters inside thus consuming more time and power to cool down components. Unscrew the case by reading laptop's manual or visiting their site to find out how to access,clean parts. Before you begin, shut down your laptop, unplug the electric supply, remove battery, ground yourself. To clean fan make use of a cotton swab dipped in a drop of cleaning spirit, compressed air, vacuum cleaner, brushes, wet cloth and to prevent damage to the fan, do not let fan revolve in wrong direction.

Avoid Using Laptop on Bed

Using laptop on bed or blanket or pillows will block air vents underneath thereby heat gets build up inside slowly slowly. It will also cause the cooling fan's to suck the dust and debris which lies in the bed. To avoid this, you can use laptop by tilting it or placing small piece cloth/paper rolled underneath thus providing breathing space. You can also use laptop-holder.

Shut Down Before Bagging Laptop

Closing down directly or putting laptop on stand-by mode will still allow processor to work actively and produce heat. If you bag your laptop in such mode, it'll result into overheating of your laptop as well as bag, as there will be no circulation of fresh air inside bag. Always shut down your laptop before bagging.

Avoid Placing Laptop in Hot Weather Conditions And Direct Sunlight

Even though your laptop doesn't overheats repeatedly and regularly, hot weather surroundings will contribute heat and will cause problems from overheating your laptop to damaging hard disk, battery and much more. Always keep laptop in cooler environment like in the shade.

Make Use of Laptop Cooler or Separate Cooling Fan

Separate cooling fan and laptop coolers is to be used when your laptop needs additional cooling. It is important to choose the right cooler, for which you'll have to understand the flow of air from your laptop. If your laptop suck-in air from bottom, choose a cooler which blows air into the laptop. A cooler which sucks air away will not add to laptop cooling and relatively cause a more rapid overheating.

Place your Laptop on Flat-Hard Surface or Lap Desk

Make use of lap desk or flat-hard surface when placing your

laptop on uneven surface like thighs, bed or blanket or pillows. When placed on uneven surfaces, cooling reduces, heat builds up, temperature of bottom surface increases thereby transferring heat to your legs. Using lap desk or something as simple as tray as laptop-holder will create enough breathing space to prevent laptop from overheating.

If you have any more suggestions to provide, please feel free.

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How to Save a Wet Mobile Phone or Tablet

So you have just dropped your gizmo in a puddle of water may be in swimming pool, fish tank or getting caught in a hefty shower and you are worried that it may be damaged or completely dead. But don't panic, you can still rescue your gizmo if you act quick.

First & Foremost - Turn it off & Disassemble it

Be quick to remove gizmo from puddle of water and TURN IT OFF immediately without wasting a second. Now, you have stopped the power supply, so further damage to gizmo cannot be done. If you wish to dip it into water again then you can, it won't cause damage anymore till power supply is NOT resumed. Dismantle any add-on like battery, Sim card,  memory card, cords. If feasible, try to unscrew entire body parts for quick and perfect drying.

Time to Dry

Its time to dry the circuit board, wires, buttons and processors inside which can be achieved by various ways like -

1. Silica gel packets - Usually silica gel packets are found in brand new products like bags, shoes and also in food, grocery items. You can also buy them separately from stores for few dollars. Place your wet mobile phone or tablet with lots of silica gel packets in a box or plastic bag. Silica gel is a drying agent which is specially used to absorb moisture effectively. Leave it for 2 to 3 days to achieve efficient drying.

2. Using uncooked rice - Alternately, bury the wet tablet or parts in a big bag/bowl of uncooked rice such that it covers all sides of gizmo by at-least an inch or so and leave it for 1 to 2 days. Rice will soak up almost all the moisture like silica over-nite.

3. Blow air to Dry - Air is obviously helpful to dry out things perfectly, but that doesn't mean you should leave the wet mobile phone under the fan in an open room, instead, hold the wet gizmo in front of the air conditioner's vent for few minutes. Also, it is not recommended to use a hair dryer because hot or unrefined air isn't good for any wet gizmo, it may damage the circuit board. But if you don't have any other option at that very moment other than using a hair dryer, keep the settings low and hold your wet mobile phone enough far away from dryer.

 4. Oven - Other way to dry out moisture from internal components of gizmo is by keeping your wet mobile phone in oven in a oven tray but setting the oven to its lowest setting. 110-120 degrees Fahrenheit temperature won't cause any damage to gizmo, but you'll have to keep on trying this method many times to achieve complete dryness.

 

5. Alcohol - If above solutions doesn't work then try this extreme alcohol solution. Dip the switched off device into a bowl or glass of PURE alcohol. Alcohol will take place of water & entire water will drain out. When the device is taken out, the alcohol will evaporate leaving your device dry.

Conclusion

All of these techniques relies on chance and a bit of luck. The most imperative part is to act quick in removing the gizmo from puddle of water and switching it off before water hits & causes any major damage to circuit board. Even if you revive your device there are possibilities of water-contact parts getting corroded over time, so after few months or so your gizmo may slow down, face circuit problem, therefore its desirable to service your gizmo at least once. After trying out this techniques when you feel it has dried completely, wait for few hours. Check whether your gizmos- slots, components are clean & dried. Turn on the device, if your phone doesn't starts, remove the battery & head to your nearest service center. And don't lie to service-man when asked about phone getting wet because many smartphones have a water indicator which tells the technician it had a bath or swim.

For example iPhone 5S's water indicator changes color from white to red when it gets wet.  The best option is to keep your gizmo in a secure place where it is improbable to be exposed to any water damage.

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