How To Deal With A Heaty Laptop

HAVE you ever had your laptop and computer suddenly crashing on you when you're in the midst of working?

Okay laugh at me if you will.

I have an old laptop. The first was a Fujitsu, the second an Acer and yes, it's time for an upgrade (if only money grows on trees).

But while I wait for money to drop from heaven I will bear with my lappy's tantrums.

Every now and then it will suddenly shutdown, go totally blank and whoosh, it's dead.

When it happened a few times it got me worried. No, not that Acer will die on me but that it will take with it all my work stored in its C drive.

Please don't ask me the dreaded "why don't you store them in your hard drives" line. I do. I have six hard drives. My problem is not being disciplined enough to housekeep regularly.

Clipart: Laptop - ANTOINE & Bubble - IMPROUIX

http://www.openclipart.org/user-detail/Antoine

http://www.openclipart.org/user-detail/lmproulx 

Anyway, there are three reasons that I know that can cause this problem.

1. Your laptop is worn out and it needs a break and when you don't give it the much-deserved break it gets angry. That's called OVERHEATING. Then it shuts down, many times over until you get the message.

2. Some parts inside your laptop are broken. You know, like us, having a heart failure.

3. Imagine yourself without a good scrub under the shower for months on end. What do you smell like? Yes, unexplainable. The same goes for your laptop. Dust is accumulating at the bottom of its (pardon the language) booty.

I think my laptop is saying it needs more love.

Clipart: Walking Laptop - CHOVYNZ

http://www.openclipart.org/user-detail/chovynz 

So what do you do when either of these three happened?

1. Cool it down. Talk to your laptop and say you will get those cooling fans meant for laptops as soon as you can get to the digital mall. Buy one, place it under your laptop and let it fan off all the excess heat.

2. When a laptop is not so angry and heaty, then probably fewer parts will be damaged. If it is a serious case, only a computer doctor knows the answer. Please visit one.

3. If money is tight and you're feeling adventurous get the right size of screwdrivers and open up the bottom of your laptop. Yes, thank you for asking - remove all plugs from any electrical points please. I do not want to be responsible for anyone's death but mine own.

When you've removed the bottom cover successfully (please note if the cover refuse to budge don't start getting nasty at it and start tugging. It will cost you even more money. If the covers won't budge it just means you missed out on some screws. Please use your glasses so you can see better where these screws are) check if there is any dust collected anywhere among the tiny tiny parts. If there is dust you WILL see them.

This is how the bottom of your laptop looks like. Brush out the dust and use a blower to clean.

Get some clean brushes of different sizes that can help you dust off efficiently. Carefully dust the area until you think you have removed what's not supposed to be there (a word of caution: do not be a lazy @#$ and use a vacuum cleaner thinking it will do a better job. You might not have any parts left by the time you are done).

Once all the brushing is done replace the cover and screws. Voila, that would have fixed the problem.

But just in case it doesn't, start digging your piggy bank. A new laptop may well be the answer. And while you're getting a new laptop, see if you can get a "Buy 1 Free 1" deal. You know who the free piece is for (wink, wink).