Laptop Overheating

To avoid laptop overheating, follow these best practices:

• Clean the ventilation system of your laptop weekly with compressed air.'

• Always place your laptop on a hard surface. Never place your laptop on blankets, comforters or other soft surfaces that can block fans and air vents.

• Turn off your computer before placing it into a briefcase or a backpack. If you need to not turn it off, place it into hibernation to avoid any processes that generate heat. Do not ever place an operating laptop in a confined space where heat can build up.

• Install monitoring software such as SpeedFan that allows you to watch and track the temperatures of processors, hard drives and other components.

• Adjust your power settings so that heat generating components – such as screens and hard drives – power down relatively quickly if they are not needed. This will help avoid needless heat generation and build up.

• If necessary, use a laptop cooler or a system for elevating your computer to reduce heat buildup.

• If you have overheating issues and your laptop is under warranty, report the problems so that you build a record of the problem existing while the warranty applies.

• If you are buying a new computer, look before you leap. Study the reviews and avoid models and brands with known overheating problems.