Ok, here's the deal. I've recently purchased a laptop(3 months ago). I think its pretty good, I'll post some system info so you can tell for yourself. My problem is, when it's simply "idling" on my desk, it generates a measurable amount of heat. More like warmths. The laptop itself, and the surface beneath it. Even worse, when I actually use it on my lap. This can truely be called heat as it wont burn, but it is quite warm, even when I make sure not to block too many fan vents.

My question being, is this a problem, and how to tend it? Are there some simple tricks so as to cut the heat back? Possibly even to check if the system fan is operating correctly? As of now, I haven't upgraded anything, should I add fans maybe??

Also, for now, I try to always keep a flat surface under the laptop to allow air flow beneath and to the back.

Any help??

System Information:
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee21/Jello-Jigglers/SystemInfo.png

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 25 2008, 3:48 pm by Jello-Jigglers.

Well what some of my friends do is they buy some laptop stand thing. It's also got a huge (or several) fans at the base so it's suppose to keep your laptop cool. Many laptops will generate such heat. It's actually quite nifty, but I do not know what it's really called.

Is there a way to put your laptop on sleep mode when it's "idle?" Because for my laptop, I have it set to sleep mode (or hibernate) when i become idle for at least an hour.

Theyre called cool pads or cooler pads usually I think. Newegg has them.

They are called Notebook/Laptop coolers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2030260319%201276817102&name=Cooler

Also i dunno about this but has any1 ever applied thermal compound on a laptop? would it work?

You can Google information on your processor or check documentation to find out the normal processor temperature for your particular CPU. It doesn't seem abnormal for it to be running at speeds to generate enough heat to burn skin.

Your fan is probably working. If it wasn't, your CPU would overheat pretty darn quickly and you would know. Make sure it's clean and free of obstructions and that there isn't any dust in there or anything and you shouldn't have to worry.

Also, be mindful of the bottom of your laptop, as that is where the air intake is located. Careful not to strip off and lose the rubber pegs keeping your laptop slightly above the surface of your desk. You'll notice a marked increase in heat output if you rest your laptop on soft surfaces like fabric or your legs.

Isn't that a setting in Windows?

I assume your laptop computer has Vista, since it is a relatively new computer. Go into the power settings and be sure it has the minimum processor speed set low (like 5%, for example). Set this for the settings for both when running off battery and when plugged in. If it is currently set at 100% for the minimum, then lowering it will make a noticeable difference in how hot your computer gets, and at no difference in performance. The works to lower heat and power consumption by reducing the speed when it is less busy (which often means most of the time).

Note that the percentages don't actually mean that Windows will set the processor speed that low. All processors in any newer system support built-in speed profiles that the operating system is able to use to dynamically change the speed at any time. The processor speed percentage in Vista does something like rounding the percentage to the nearest supported profile. The lowest speed profile is often around half the speed of the slowest cpu of the same type.

For most uses, I often set the range 5% min. to 50% max. for when on battery to conserve power (but sometimes I increase the max if I want to do something that actually needs it) and I set the range 5% min. to 100% max. for when plugged in, to get maximum performance (but still kept fairly cool when idle).

Ok so these laptop coolers or cool pads, are they worth the investment? do they work well, and will it affect my computers performance?? I'm assuming it doesn't run as well when it gets really hot. Anybody actually have and use one?

@ Millenium: I don't like the sleep function, I use it enough throughout the day that I feel it takes too long to "wake"
@ Moose: It's all clean and clear
@ Herc: I still have they rubber pads and as stated before I always try to keep airflow beneath.
@ Shadow: Also, the power options only allow me to change the display time, the sleep time, and the display brightness. Are you sure the cpu output percentage settings are located here??

Quick side question, I want to try to cut back on my processes, here's a list of what I've got, anybody know a few I can end safely?
(I'm not very knowledgeable in the subject to even understand blackviper, but I know I've all my recent updates dled and installed)

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee21/Jello-Jigglers/Processes.png

I can't really explain things better than BlackViper. Are you clicking the name of the services to read about what they do? You should pretty much be able to determine what you need and don't need fairly easily. It just takes a lot of paitence and reading to go through all those services.

I'll do my best. Keep in mind that I do not use Windows Vista.
First three: I don't even know what they are. If you don't, and killing them off doesn't seem to affect anything, you can probably disable them.
hidfind.exe - Apparently related to the first three, I don't know what it is.

csrss.exe - Leave it alone.

dwm.exe - That's a lot of memory. If you don't care about nice graphical interfaces such as the alt-tab thumbnails and such, you can disable this.

explorer.exe - It isn't NECESSARY. It's nice to have though, unless you like running everything from run or command prompts.

MSASCui.exe - Apparently related to Windows Defender. If you don't use Windows Defender, you don't need it.

rundll32.exe - Three different processes run out of the same program. You probably don't need all of them. You would have to find out what service is running them and disable them individually.

sprtcmd.exe - Don't know what this is.

taskeng.exe - If you don't have scheduled tasks, you don't need this.

taskmgr.exe - What you took a screenshot of.

upeksvr.exe - Don't know what this is.

winlogon.exe - Leave this alone.

WLTRAY.EXE - Ask this program to caps lock. Anyway, it appears to be responsible for a tray icon for your Wireless WLAN Card. If your wireless works fine without this program running, you can disable it.

wmpnscfg.exe - If you're not sharing anything via Windows Media Player, disable this.

Remember that if stuff starts breaking, remember what you changed and set it back.
It's probably a good idea to have a text file or even write down what you changed, since services (in XP anyway) doesn't let you save and load service configurations.

Also, if it isn't in the main guide, check the Strange Services page.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 25 2008, 5:15 pm by Mini Moose 2707.

Many laptop coolers work very well. I do not think my laptop cooler has really affected the performance. I think its laptop coolers are for increasing your laptop life and keeping your pants cool.

Thanks a ton! Ok so just checking, you say disable, I click "end process". And when you say change it back?? reset? I told you I'm a noob lol

Edit: I found the files for apoint and the others, I think they are related to the hardware built into the laptop like fingerscan and touch pad mouse. If i wanna put it back I can just reset right???

End process is useful for checking if not having a process running will cause immediate problems. But, the programs will just launch again when you reboot.
I don't know what Vista uses, but you have to go to run->msconfig or run->services.msc to disable things in XP.
http://www.blackviper.com/AskBV/askBV.htm
http://www.blackviper.com/AskBV/Vista01.htm
It's pretty much all explained on BlackViper's site, you just have to not be lazy and do your reading.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Aug 25 2008, 9:01 pm by Mini Moose 2707.

I'd do what ShadowFlare said for the power stuff (if you havn't already.) If I set my power options (not Vista, by the way) properly, then my computer doesn't do much while idle or minimal programs running. My fan isn't on right now and my laptop is slightly warm underneath.

like I said, Idk how to adjust system effort percentages...

Though it does certainly use memory, with certain types of programs it does seem to make them more responsive (it does reduce the number of redraws, which is one of the purposes). This one is more up to how much ram the system has or just personal preference. If things seem slow, try disabling it and see if that helps. If transparency is enabled for the borders, try disabling that first. The settings are where you change things for window appearance.

Personally, I typically leave it enabled, but I do often disable it temporarily when I'm running a game that I'm frequently alt-tabbing out of, since it otherwise disables it when switching to the game (if the game is full-screen) and re-enables it when switching away, which makes the switch slower. Of course, I could just tell Vista to not use it while the game is running, but I made a utility to temporarily disable it and I prefer that instead.

In Windows Vista's task manager, you can add an additional column to show the command line, which will allow seeing what each instance of a rundll32 process is actually running.

My task manager actually currently has 13 different columns enabled, because there is much more information available that is useful as well other than the default set. Vista's task manager has so many more useful columns available than XP's...

Whatever it is, it is a program that is running under a higher privilege level than the default for the user (the reason why task manager isn't showing some of the information). If the "Show processes from all users" button is clicked, and elevation prompt is shown. After accepting, task manager has the proper access to display the rest of the information about the process.


You need to click "Change advanced power settings" and the setting is called "Processor power management" in the list. The link to "Change advanced power settings" should be in the same place where you found the times for turning the display off and sleep.

Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Aug 26 2008, 11:31 am by ShadowFlare.

Oh yeah, all computers that run hot but not crashing isn't overheating. If its getting hot, you know it means it's releasing the heat very well. Otherwise if the internal temperature gets too high, your computer will just shut down.

Why is your windows experience index so low? my m1530 is 4.8. Does your laptop shutdown randomly?

I just cheeped out on the graphics card. Its a 4.1, but everything else is the standard 4.8 or higher.
[attach=1137]

No, it never shuts down, does yours??

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