Toshiba laptop overheats

Ok, I'm sure a lot of people have had this problem, Toshiba laptops overheating to the point where it automatically shuts down. I have experienced this before and have cleaned dust out a few times (although there is never as much dust as I imagined).

I can usually manage the temp by propping the laptop up off my desk with some small objects and turning on the fan in my room. I also use SpeedFan to monitor the temp of the HD (the laptop doesn't have a CPU temp sensor).

But yesterday i was doing some video editing and had the laptop shutdown twice. After it happened the first time, I put my fan right up close to the laptop so there was plenty of air flow. I was sure this would cool it down enough, and SpeedFan reported only 45 degrees (50 is high). But yet it still shut down after about 10 mins of running at 100% CPU. This has never happened before. It means that even though the HD was cool enough, there was nothing I could do to cool the CPU. I had to actually suspend the process periodically (using Process Explorer) to let it cool down.

I just want to know what could happen if it shuts down like this too often. There is probably a possibility of data loss or corruption, but could it be worse than that? It seems to shut down sooner than it used to, and takes less time to overheat. Could it eventually fry the CPU?

My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite M50, around 5 years old.

 

Depending on the internal board layout and the degree of overheating, it's possible to kill off both the CPU and the graphics card.

Some notebooks have two fans: One at the corner of the case (the one you hear) and a small one directly over the CPU Heatsink (like a desktop PC only a lot smaller).

If you are not comfortable taking the PC apart, I would find a friend or reputable PC shop to check that the heatsink is in place and if the CPU fan needs replacing.

In the mean time, I would invest in a quality (high air flow) USB powered notebook stand with built-in fans. Although not a replacement for proper internal cooling, it will do a better job than just propping up the PC or air from a fan a few feet away.

 

As gman says, - there is a possibilty that you have a wad of hair/fluff between the cpu and the fan.
I have found some with wads as thick as your small finger, jammed between .
Sometimes it is easy to get to- bt sometimes the fan is under the motherboard, and you have to more, or, less dismantle the whole thing to get to it.- I would think this the most likely problem causing overheating.
I will see if I have a dismantling diagram, or, find one on the web, to show you of yours.

 

http://tim.id.au/laptops/toshiba/satellite m50.pdf A FREE DOWNLOAD
IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY TO DELVE INSIDE- DON'T.
SCROLL DOWN TO 4.18 figure 4.59, to see how to get to the fan- and decide if you want to look- or, take it to a pc shop .
If you decide to have a go , take time to read through thr manual, and be careful to avoid static, I usually wear a pair of thin plasttic gloves, if I have not got a wrist strap about.

 

The thin gloves are a great idea. Besides killing off static, they also offer limited protection against sharp case edges (ouch!).

Disposable latex or nitrile (latex free) gloves don't affect your feel or dexterity. You'll usually find them in the diabities testing section of your local discount or drug store - about $8-$10 USD for a box of 100.

Although off-topic, they're also great for painting, scrubbing or any nasty project involving lots of dirt or harsh cleaners.

 

I mentioned before that I had cleaned out dust. I suppose I should have elaborated on that, I took the laptop apart to do so. I didn't remove the heat sink or anything too drastic, but I did look inside the case. And there was not much dust at all. So maybe the thermal grease is deteriorating or something.

Yeah, I was thinking of getting one of those. I reckon that would probably do the job quite well. They normally have 3 or 4 fans, my laptop only has a single fan.

Actually, I don't think he ever said that. But as I mentioned above, there is not much dust in my laptop.
As for a dismantling diagram, I used a disassembly guide I found on the Internet, although I don't have the link with me right now

 

If you feel comfortable enough to remove the CPU heatsink, carefully clean off the old thermal compound from both sides (CPU and heatsink) and reset it using silver-based grease such as

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ilver_thermal_compound-_-35-129-001-_-Product

(Note: Some brand names include the word "Silver" even in their cheaper ceramic-based thermal paste. Be sure what you buy actually is silver-based; it normally runs about $10 USD per tube.)

Although I'm not sure how much more effective this is versus standard thermal compound, everyone I know who builds gaming systems swears by it.