Computers overheat??

[loveumore]

Wow, I never saw this message before on a computer!

Intel Desktop Boards
Intel Pentium 4 processor, 2.80 Ghz
504 MB System RAM

The CPU was previously shutdown due to a thermal event (overheating.) Press F4 to resume.

Press F2 to run SETUP.

Hit F12 if you want to boot from the network.

This is my daughter's computer and she has it in her room. It's freaking me out! She just told me it's been happening for days and she just presses F4 to resume. What do you suggest I do?

Roughly two months ago, I installed Windows 2000 on it. Should I do it again, or could this be a more serious problem? I'm guessing motherboard. If so, fuck.

 

[JustSkye]

Wow, I never saw this message before on a computer!



This is my daughter's computer and she has it in her room. It's freaking me out! She just told me it's been happening for days and she just presses F4 to resume. What do you suggest I do?

Roughly two months ago, I installed Windows 2000 on it. Should I do it again, or could this be a more serious problem? I'm guessing motherboard. If so, fuck.

Make sure it's vents are free of any blockage and make sure the fan is still working!

 

[Reba67]

It could just be the fan, which is really cheap to replace (and easy). If you can't see the fan through the case (there may be more than one), open the case and then turn it on to look (this is totally safe).

 

[loveumore]

Make sure it's vents are free of any blockage and make sure the fan is still working!

It could just be the fan, which is really cheap to replace (and easy). If you can't see the fan through the case (there may be more than one), open the case and then turn it on to look (this is totally safe).

Thank you both. I've been so darn stressed lately; I don't know why I didn't think of that. I also haven't had a can of air in like...you wouldn't want to know. Shame on me.

I'll check now. I'm so looking forward to all the dog hair in this machine. Oh man, mine too. Grr!

 

[starrkers]

I'll check now. I'm so looking forward to all the dog hair in this machine. Oh man, mine too. Grr!

I was gonna ask if you had a dog or cat whose hair could be blocking the vents

 

[nickollette]

if its a laptop, i would get one of those fans for it. u hook the fan up via usb and u just place the laptop on top of it..it works real well for mine and it never gets too hot, granted ive never had that error pop up before but still.

 

[loveumore]

I was gonna ask if you had a dog or cat whose hair could be blocking the vents

My Dobie sheds all year round. Good Lord! I'm constantly sweeping, especially the stairs.

Anyway, by the time I got upstairs to check the comp, my daughter fell asleep. She knows to keep it shut off for now, so I'll be checking out the fan tomorrow. I hope that's all it is.

 

[NippleMuncher]

As everyone has said, it's not uncommon at all for both the vents to clog up and the fan(s) to quit working. Vacuum the vents inside and out, also vacuum anything you can get to inside. Once done with the vacuuming, turn on the computer and see if the fans are working. If not, take them out (after shutting computer off ) and blow them off with compressed air (resist the urge to spin the propeller with the air jet, as cool as the sound it makes is, it's not good for the motor), then use a drop of 3-in-1 oil on the bushings on both ends of the motor. I've done this a number of times to the same computer and the original fan continues to blow.

After that, make sure the computer vents are not blocked by cabinetry, pillows, stuffed animals, post-it notes, silly string, or any of the other things that kids love to have around.

 

[CowBoy18^]

ive a pretty powerful gaming setup, but it sadly lacks adequate cooling, my mistake for upgrading from a dell box

anyway, i solved it by setting up some desk fans that blow directly into it, forcing air in, they only cost about 10 bucks. Noise is a small problem however.

 

[Cenobite]

Vacuum the vents inside and out, also vacuum anything you can get to inside.

Well actually never use a vacuum cleaner inside a computer case, there's that little thing known as an electro static discharge which will build up in the hose attachments.
Suffice to say that's enough to fry sensitive stuff.

Compressed air or a non-synthetic (as in horse hair or similar) brush are the best way to go.

But in a lot of cases the fins of heat-sinks can clog up themselves. Doesn't matter how clean the fans are if the heat-sinks don't do nothing.

 

[luvtofly]

. . . I know about the ESD (Electro-Static-Discharge) and even though I use a standard vacuum to clean out the interiors of my Computers I have never had any issues with them...

Just my two cents....

 

[kindashy]

Two things in addition to the cleaning advice already giving.

1) Pentium 4 processors run hot. It is just not very good design. The only thing you can do about this bad design is stick a big heat think with a big fan on the cpu and stick a couple of big fans into the case. That is pretty much what people have been doing before Core 2 Duo came out. The heat think makers made a mint in those days.

2) I assume the case of the computer in question does not have air vents on the sides. Pull the back of the computer away from the wall, make some room between the back of the computer and the wall. The power supply that is in the back of the computer case has its own fan, this fan is pulling warm air out of the case and then sends it outward. If the back of the computer case is very close to the wall, the warm air simply hits the wall and bounces back. I would move computer case several inches away from the wall (5-6 inches = 10 centimeters) to give worm air room to move away from case and to allow it to follow its natural tendency of displacing cooler air and moving up.

And of course clean the inside of the case. I use old toothbrush to remove sizable layers of dust from the fins of the fans.

 

[joric]

Wow, I never saw this message before on a computer!



This is my daughter's computer and she has it in her room. It's freaking me out! She just told me it's been happening for days and she just presses F4 to resume. What do you suggest I do?

Roughly two months ago, I installed Windows 2000 on it. Should I do it again, or could this be a more serious problem? I'm guessing motherboard. If so, fuck.

Are you sure that the fans are working in the CPU?

 

[SubNebGuy]

start with the fan mounted on the CPU. if that fan isn't moving fast enough (note: it should ALWAYS be spinning) then replace it.

case fans are second to check as well as the vents in the case.

overheating can destroy the processor, which is about the least fun thing to replace in a computer.

 

[loveumore]

The computer has two fans and each of them are working fine. There's also no dust or dirt inside, amazingly so.

What happens is when the computer is running for 5 minutes or so, it suddenly shuts down. When you restart it, it gives the message in my first post.

I haven't had time to install Windows 2000 again because I've been real busy. I'm just wondering if that might help...something. :::confusion::::

 

[Weird Harold]

The computer has two fans and each of them are working fine. There's also no dust or dirt inside, amazingly so.

What happens is when the computer is running for 5 minutes or so, it suddenly shuts down. When you restart it, it gives the message in my first post.

I haven't had time to install Windows 2000 again because I've been real busy. I'm just wondering if that might help...something. :::confusion::::

I don't know whether you'll need to reinstall Windows or not, but you should be able to check the temperature monitoring utilities from the System Icon in
the Control Panel -- or through the motherboard's Setup program (F2)

You may be able to set the threshold a bit higher so it doesn't trip the shutdown as often or even turn off the temperature monitor -- a last resort because turning off the monitor doesn't resolve the problem it's reporting. (it's possible that the threshold was set too low when you installed WIN 2K.)

You need to determine if the CPU is actually overheating or if the temperature monitoring is giving a false warning -- your description of the interior suggests the temperature monitoring rather than actual over-temp conditions.

 

[SubNebGuy]

Ok, please double check the computer...because there are CASE FANS, and there are CPU FANS.

some manufacturers put shrouds around the cpu, which hides the CPU fan.

no number of case fans moving will make up for a cpu fan that isn't keeping the chip cool enough.

this is a case fan: http://www.cooltechpc.com/ctpc/images/papst_silent_case_fan.jpg

a cpu fan looks more like this (this one's mounted on the heatsink, which pulls heat off the cpu so the fan can then remove it from the heat sink)

http://www.hitech-solutions.com/images/products/Evercool ND-15 CPU Fan.jpg

good luck!