Laptop overheating? Check your CPU fan

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An overheating laptop caused by a bad CPU fan isn’t an unusual thing at all. In fact, it’s probably one of the more common ailments you can see with a laptop. Usually overheating is caused by something simple: That is, accidentally blocking the outflow vents on your notebook. This can be caused by placing the computer on the floor (particularly thicker carpet), putting it on your lap, or otherwise blocking the amount of air that’s allowed to exit through the bottom vent. It is true that many newer laptops come with the fan exhaust vent on the side, allowing you to do such things without actually hurting your computer. That being said, check to make sure where your CPU fan exhaust port is; on my Compaq it’s actually on the left side, but I’ve seen many that have this port on the bottom. It’s a good idea to see where yours is so that you can actually think about where you place it.

Obviously the best possible place you can put your laptop is a hard, flat surface such as a table. This allows your laptop to sit properly on the rubber nubs on the bottom, which promotes proper cooling. Even if your CPU fan exhaust vent isn’t on the bottom, the buildup of heat below the laptop can cause problems down the road. That buildup can also wear your fan out early by creating the need for it to be running constantly.

If you want to take apart your laptop to do a little bit of CPU cooler fan cleaning, you can certainly do that as well (do this at your own risk! You’ve been warned!).

Assuming you know what you’re doing, this shouldn’t be a tough thing to do. All you’ll be doing is accessing the internals through the predefined access points (consult your manual for this), then either using a dry rag or better yet, compressed air to gently get rid of the dust. This dust buildup can lower the efficiency of the fan blades, causing your CPU cooling fan to work harder and wear out quicker. You’ll be amazed at just how well your computer gets cooled once you do this simple step.

Of course, sometimes your CPU fan just fails. This can be a normal wear and tear issue, or can be caused by all that dust buildup or continual overheating. Either way, you can visit places such as our links below or sites like Tiger Direct to pick up a new one. Either way, if you know what you’re doing you can replace this fan by yourself fairly easily. If you don’t, we recommend taking it to the nearest laptop repair shop and letting them do it.