Compaq Presario Overheating

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi!I had a Compaq Presario that started off fine when I got it but later started overheating and had the fan running all the time. I assumed that it may have been a hardware fault or perhaps something was blocking the fan in the notebook PC, but apparently, when the customer service support staff had a look at it, they determined that the notebook PC needed a BIOS update and that the hardware was perfectly okay. After a month of leaving the notebook PC with the service center, they had the BIOS updated and after the replacement, which I believe fixed the power management software, had the fan automatically throttling depending on the temperature of the system, and the overall temperature of the system was much lower, and was comparable to when it was first new.The Compaq Presario notebook PC isn't something I bought willfully, but was rather forced into the deal by the staff at the store at which I bought it. The way it turned out is that I bought an IBM Thinkpad that I brought home, which was wayyy back when the Thinkpad brand and the hardware manufacturing business was still owned and operated by IBM, and after taking off all of the packaging, and switching it on, the notebook PC booted up with an Arabic version of Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional. I took the IBM Thinkpad notebook PC back to the store and they offered to replace it but since it was paid for by a credit card, they refused to issue a refund and instead requested that I exchange the Thinkpad for goods of equal or greater value. As the store did not have any notebook PCs of an equal or greater value, I had to trade it in for the next best thing, which was the Compaq Presario notebook PC, along with a couple of accessories, including a cordless optical mouse and a licensed copy of Microsoft Office.I later got another Compaq Presario notebook PC, to replace the previous Compaq Presario when the screen hinge was damaged and would no longer keep the LCD display panel upright, as it was one of the few notebook PCs that still had a floppy disk drive. When running Microsoft Windows XP Professional, the system runs as cool as ever, however when running Ubuntu 9.04, the processor runs hot and the cooling processor fan keeps running all the time, so I upgraded the operating system to Ubuntu 9.10 and that had the processor running as cool as ever again. I used the notebook PC for about two years before it had to be replaced again due to a power connector that developed a loose connection, and since the power connector is on the motherboard, the only way to fix the problem is to replace the motherboard, which is no longer manufactured. It could run off a battery that I had a classmate charge for me while I backed up all of my data and that's when I finally got an IBM Thinkpad again. The Thinkpad has been running fine for the past few years and apart from a memory upgrade, to move from Microsoft Office 2003 to Office 2007, and hooking it up to two external USB hard disk drives to increase the storage capacity, I haven't had any issues with it.BTW, there are a couple of step-by-step tutorials on YouTube and a couple of other websites that have different 'hacks' that can be performed to get the computers to run cooler, such as by attaching additional fans run by the power drawn from the USB port, or by attaching commercially available solutions, which range from a cooling mat that simply elevates the laptop by a few millimeters to improve the flow of air to an active cooling base that can be attached to a laptop for cooling it with four small fans - two to blow cool air into the base and the other two to push the heated air out of the base. The active cooling solution costed more than what most people would be willing to spend or could afford to shell out on something that offers no real functionality to the laptop and therefore wasn't really recommended but just as long as there's someone out there selling it, there are geeks out there wanting to buy it for the sheer geekiness factor or style that it has to offer them. I guess that can be said about a lot of different PC mods that are out there for both desktops and notebook PCs. Alienware offers a backlit keyboard with a glowing logo on the back of the LCD panel and an engraved metal plate with the name of the laptop's owner. Desktop case manufacturers provide glowing LEDs, transparent sides, liquid cooling, and even coffee makers!For people who live in sub-zero temperatures, the additional heat from the laptop must make it work as an personal heater. Apparently, ASUS does a good job of ensuring that their laptops run cooler by ensuring proper air flow when designing the structure of the laptops. I haven't bought any ASUS laptops myself, but have read good reviews about their products on computer hardware websites and blogs. All of the Compaq desktops that I've bought have always had points at which to attach additional cooling fans - they probably assume that I would need four cooling fans after attaching additional graphics adapter cards!

[Spyda 0]

BTW, there are a couple of step-by-step tutorials on YouTube and a couple of other websites that have different 'hacks' that can be performed to get the computers to run cooler, such as by attaching additional fans run by the power drawn from the USB port, or by attaching commercially available solutions, which range from a cooling mat that simply elevates the laptop by a few millimeters to improve the flow of air to an active cooling base that can be attached to a laptop for cooling it with four small fans - two to blow cool air into the base and the other two to push the heated air out of the base. The active cooling solution costed more than what most people would be willing to spend or could afford to shell out on something that offers no real functionality to the laptop and therefore wasn't really recommended but just as long as there's someone out there selling it, there are geeks out there wanting to buy it for the sheer geekiness factor or style that it has to offer them. I guess that can be said about a lot of different PC mods that are out there for both desktops and notebook PCs. Alienware offers a backlit keyboard with a glowing logo on the back of the LCD panel and an engraved metal plate with the name of the laptop's owner. Desktop case manufacturers provide glowing LEDs, transparent sides, liquid cooling, and even coffee makers!

Yupp... I've been looking into some of them, especially some of the Youtube videos. But, I went ahead and got one of the commercial products that you have mentioned. One of them is a cooling fan that you place underneath the laptop and it helps cool it down a bit. It still sort of overheats when I am watching videos, or movies, but for the most part the cooling pan has done the trick for now :angel:

[iGuest 3]

k_nitin_r big long post and not a word of anything worthwhile what a load of trash, desktops powersupply have additional din sockets on them for powering devices nothing to do with fans they just happen to use the same attachment?and this is about a cq laptop not desktops so saying i have looked at asus and they make good cool running laptops then babbling some trash about compaq and desktops and fans? what kind of advice is that? why bother posting?to the op or anyone else with this problem, it is a very common fault with these laptops and hp compaq will not provide you with any useful assistance if you are out of warranty, if your cq laptop is perfectly sound to the best of your knowledge but overheats/crashes/turns off unexpectadly you can either replace the laptop or provide additional cooling as simple as that there is no other real soloution.take care