My Gateway 7330 Notebook Overheats...

My son told me there are some wonderful geeks here who can help me, so here I am.

I have a Gateway 7330 Notebook running Windows XP and had been using the using the power cord to run it. I changed my office and used an extension cord to run my notebook. After this change my notebook got very warm during some heavy use and shut off. I got rid of the extension cord, restarted and it ran for awhile but would shut down again and again.

I ran scandisk, updated everything I could with Microsoft & Gateway Updates and it still gets warm and shuts down. I can hear the fan running, so I assume that is ok. I even have it sitting up on a wire rack right now to help the airflow around it though I had no problems previous to my running the natebook theough that extension cord. I do not have Roxio which my son said could cause problems. Does anybody have any ideas what is wrong or how I can get it fixed? I still owe on this baby and bought it from another person so I have no warranty. It is only about 6 months old.

There are also three copies of windows installed on my hardrive that I would like to get rid of but don't know how to. When my system restarts, the one I use is on the top of the list but there are two others listed after that. I am so afraid of deleting the wrong one or messing up something terribly.

Thank you for your time and thoughts....I really hope someone can help me!

 

I get no error messages, either. Everything is running fine until it finally shuts off. I then let it cool and restart. I am good for anywhere from an hour to a few hours before she'll shut down again depending on how hard I'm using her.

It sounds like my fan runs constantly when it is on.

 

How long have you had the laptop? Most likely there is too much dust on the heatsinks and this may be causing overheating. I would check and have a reputable shop look at the unit before you use it much longer and cause the unit to overheat to the point that it will no longer work.

 

I just had this same problem and it was related to a Windows XP update causing the CPU to run 100% of the time, which causes it to overheat and shut off. Windows has an update, so check that.

 

Welcome to MajorGeeks bearhugs and mksmc!

I think browniz is right about the dust possibility. Before you take it to a shop, why not buy a can of compressed and carefully clean out the vents on the bottom and sides of the computer. While you are at it, clean out the spaces between the keys on the keyboard!

I did have a couple of computers that went a little crazy after the latest WinXP updates. Not sure if it was causing the CPU to max out or not. One had malware issues... Got to love your parents! If cleaning it out does not help, you might want to check on the update possibility.

E

 

Thanks Fred!

I can tell you that the update definitely took care of my problem. However I was getting Win32 errors, and I guess there are no errors detected on bearhugs problem.
It's funny because I found this forum trying to solve my overheating problem. Earlier this week I had the power switch fixed, so I know the PC tech. probably cleaned everything out in mine. He also inadvertently fixed the problem with my screen flickering.

But it still overheated until I applied this update.

When I think about it, the only thing that is going to cause this problem is the CPU getting too hot, which causes the thermal detect to kick in.

Try this, press ctrl alt delete and bring up task manager. Click on the performance tab and check your CPU usage. It should be running at around 3 or 4% if you are not running anything.
If it's constantly at 100% then something is running in the background and is overheating your CPU.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916089

As far as 3 OP systems on the same computer, I think you are going to have to live with it or reformat your laptop.

Good luck!

 

I am happy to report that for mine it was simply an overheat problem. I clean it regularly with canned air now and have not had a problem since. It's been a wonderful laptop in every other way!

 

Glad you got it fixed with out having to spend much cash!

E

 

maybe is betther that you clean the fun and the CPU.

 

Rodape,

Check the post dates next time. This thread is more than 2 years old.