Heat is the enemy of delicate electronic components. Desktop computers have the advantage of lots of space for fans. This makes the dissipation of heat so much easier. However, it is a great deal more challenging when you are dealing with a laptop computer. There are only a few ways to reduce the operating temperature of your laptop.

Laptops are generally designed with intake or outtake ventilation on the bottom. If these vents become blocked with comforters, thick carpets or even your legs, they will not be able to pull heat away from the interior and the laptop will begin to overheat. The unfortunate thing is that this means laptop fans will not work when resting in your lap. While a little heat every once in a while won’t instantly break your computer, this will cause damage to the internal hardware eventually.

Some laptop cooling problems are not caused by obstructed vents, although it’s an extremely common cause. Running your laptop in an extremely hot environment can cause internal heating issues as well. It’s smart not to use your laptop on a hot surface such as a metal table in the sun or next to a hot stove. Keeping laptops off of hot surfaces and away from heat sources are two easy ways to eliminate overheating problems caused by environmental issues.

Several companies sell stands and cooling pads that you can purchase for your laptop. If the fans are correctly positioned on such a device, you could safely rest your laptop in your lap with a cooling pad. A notebook stand safely raises your machine in a way that allows for better air circulation. A cooling pad is a powered device that uses fans like the ones inside your computer to pull heat away from your notebook. A cooling pad will usually connect to your laptop for power. They sometimes also have power adapters that plug into a typical wall socket. These pads contain fans that will help cool the computer. The fans will either draw air to or from the laptop. You will want to choose a fan configuration that cooperates with the built-in fans on your machine. You can find cooling pads made with either plastic or aluminum. Since it draws heat away from your laptop, aluminum is the preferred material.

If you are dealing with a serious overheating problem, you may need a more complicated solution. Like any part of your laptop, the internal fans can fail. If your laptop suddenly develops a heating problem that it didn’t in the past, a broken fan could be the cause. Don’t attempt to fix this yourself: opening up your laptop can void the warranty and you could damage the very delicate hardware. Another complex issue that can arise is that Sometimes the thermal paste on the inside of the laptop will stop functioning. In this case, new thermal paste should be applied. Again, this is not something that a novice user should attempt. This requires taking the laptop apart for serious work.

Heat is tremendously bad for a laptop. Because of their compact design, it’s complicated to achieve good airflow in these mini systems. This means that a laptop’s operating temperatures should be checked on occasion. If you notice very high temperatures, you should have it checked out as soon as possible. This will greatly extend the lifespan of your laptop. You should be able to look up the correct operating temperature of your laptop online. You can use a sensor monitoring program to check that your components are operating at a safe level.

Gregg Housh is the Technician Manager at Geek Choice a Computer Repair company. Geek Choice solves computer problems such as: Slow computer, Virus Removal, and much more.

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