External monitor straining my laptop

Hi all- My wife's Toshiba laptop has been working very hard recently. The fan runs fast much of the time, expelling heat, and the keyboard and case generally stay quite hot. I thought it was from running too many programs, taxing the processor, but I can't find much in that area to really put my finger on. It recently has gotten so hot that the machine freezes up (no pun intended) and can only be restored by powering off for a while to let it physically cool off.

She has been using an external 15 inch monitor on this machine for some time. Disconnecting that, the machine does not seem quite as hot. Does the use of an external monitor put more load on the processor or graphics cards? TIA- Greg. (Centrino processor 1.7 GHz, 1.5 GB Ram, Windows XP MCE)

 

It would appear so. Is the notebook monitor disabled when the external monitor is used? Does the external run at a higher (therefore more demanding) resolution?

With heat being the bane of all electronics, and the very nature of notebooks being powerful machines in tiny, nearly impossible to clean, or ventilate boxes, you are wise to be concerned. While way too much heat will instantly destroy electronic devices, long term exposure increases aging. Notebook interiors need periodic cleaning of dust and dirt just as PCs do, but unlike PCs, cleaning the interiors is not a user task. Still you can remove all bay covers, slide in devices, and batteries and blast all vents, cracks and crevices with compressed dusting gas or an air compressor setup for cleaning electronics - if you happen to have one.

There is a "movement" to move away from the word "laptop" as they should never be operated on your lap, the carpet, bed, etc., but only on a flat hard surface that allows for air to flow underneath. I recommend all notebook users use a Notebook Cooling Pad w/ext. power supply. I stress the external power supply, instead of a pad that is powered off a notebook USB port, because running off the USB port only puts more demands on the power circuits, which increases the heat you are trying to get rid of. Until you get the pad, set a desk fan on it. Try blasting down onto the keyboard, then off to the side blowing across top and underneath, then use the method that keeps your temps cooler.

Monitor your temps. The notebook may have come with a utilities disk with a monitoring program (or check for a more recent version on your the maker's website). If none, I recommend CoreTemp for newer Intel and AMD64 CPUs. SpeedFan is a great and popular alternative, or you can try Motherboard Monitor. Unfortunately, I have found that these programs often have problems properly identifying and labeling the sensor they are reading. The temperatures shown are as accurate as the inexpensive, low-tech sensors will allow, but it may say System Fan instead of CPU Fan. Fortunately, the programs do allow you to edit the labels, so I use Everest to verify the temperatures (as it is able to put sensor to label correctly), then edit the label in the monitoring program. In Everest, look under Computer > Sensor, then wait a couple seconds for the readings to appear. Unfortunately, Everest does not minimize to the system tray to show real-time temperatures, otherwise, you could use Everest instead of the others.

If your cleaning and the fans don't make a difference you might consider taking it to a shop for a professional cleaning by folks that know how to open the case and put it back with no left over parts. If still no go, then perhaps the long term exposure to higher than normal heat is taking its toll, and something is failing - most likely a device on the motherboard.

For your personal safety, you need to back up any data your wife would not to lose! Now!

That's pretty hard to do, or even simulate. If you are not actually doing something with each of the open programs, Windows just puts them in the background, and the CPU goes idle. You could run out of RAM, though that is unlikely with 1.5Gb, but it won't tax the CPU.

 

Bill-- the internal monitor can be switched on or off while the external is on. She normally turns off the internal. I appreciate the tips and I'm working on her backups now.
thanks/ Greg.

 

Yeah, all notebooks can do that - I was asking if she did turn it off, and apparently she does. However, the notebook should be able to handle both running at once.