How hot is too hot?

Hello, and thank you for your help. Can you tell me how hot a laptop can get to before it causes damage? What is the normal temperature of a laptop?

My computer has been shutting off and restarting continually for a month or two. We changed the settings to not restart in hopes of seeing an error message to target the problem. Now it just gives a blank screen and will not revive until it is turned off and back on again. It has been running very hot and the fan seems to be laboring at times. We installed a Core Temp gadget and found the temperature to be as high as 190 F. Took the laptop to a shop to check on the fan, was told that it probably just needed to be cleaned. Did this and purchased a better cooling pad with a fan directly under the hottest spot. It is running cooler now (about 100 to 120 F) but is still shutting down, especially when viewing pictures through Windows Media Player. Advice that we have been given is that it sounds like the problem is still that it is running hot. I understand we have 2 different symptoms here...could the shut downs be because of the overheating, and is this a dangerous temperature?
Thank you!

 

Do you feel that all of the issues I have posted could be related to overheating and can be resolved by the more thorough cleaning? Or do I need to do something else to take care of the other issues?

How much cooler does it need to run beyond the 100 to 120 mark that it is running at now? For future reference I would like to be knowledgeable of safe temperature ranges. Thanks!

 

Hi Jim Boyce, Welcome to WindowsBBS.

We will need some clarification of your system specs. What OS & SP are you running? Your RAM seems very low at 64MB??? (my Presario 1700 has 512MB RAM) Is your Adapter the Video memory???
Currently, my Laptop is running at 35°C (95°F) just idling.
Have you taken it apart to clean the fan and cooling apertures? Neil.

 

I am not sure where to find all of this information. When I added my system specs I went to the start menu and typed in system information. Found several of these details but not all. Not sure where to find the RAM size...just copied whatever had the word RAM attached to it with ??? to let you know I am not sure. I notice it does say Installed Physical Memory (RAM) is 2.00GB. The OS is Vista, not sure what SP is. Can you be more specific for what I am looking for? Also not sure how to answer about the Adapter/Video memory. (By the way, during the process of the issues at hand, my CD/DVD player has also stopped working. Maybe burned out by the high heat.)

The computer was taken apart and cleaned with air and contact cleaners at the fan area. Is it possible that there is a sensor that has gone bad?

 

You have done well. Physical Memory is the system memory, it shares part of that (64MB) with the graphics adapter. On a desktop computer, the graphics adapter may be on a separate add-in card and has it's own memory (graphics RAM).

Look up your system on the HP/Compaq wesite www.hp.com/support , because F700 is not the model number, it is the series number. Here is the service manual for the "F700XX ", it probably covers your model
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01295900.pdf

The "maximum" operational temperature is listed as 140*F (60*C).

If the laptop has been cleaned properly, I might (unfortunately) suspect that the CPU has been damaged by overheating. That would be my suspicion (best guess) if it has not returned to normal.

Getting it repaired could cost an arm and a leg. I think I would see if there was there was the same model offered on the auction websites and then have a full set of replacement parts for either machine. Parts out of a series F700 should be interchangeable.

You can back up your data and try a factory reinstallation of Windows (which will reset the system to when you bought it). Back up your data anyway. Compaq might have a backup system, but it might have "memories" and you will end up in the same situation. You have (hopefully) taken away the hardware factor, now you need to take away the software factor. If you do a fresh installation of Windows, it will test if the hardware has been damaged. It could save you many hours of testing.

To me, it sounds like a piece of hardware has failed. My best guess is that the CPU has been damaged by overheating.

Hold out for a while if you like, see if the people here have some suggestions. I have my system backed up, so a full reformat (wipe and reinstall) wouldn't worry me.

Matt