overheating problem with my inspiron 5100?

Ok, so I've had this problem for a while but I've actually been looking and searching around and apparently alot of people have been having this problem and is actually a faulty airflow design which is causing the problem. It will overheat after a few minutes and will shutdown and the process will repeat and so on etc.

I looked and I saw they were actually fixing the 5150 model for free because they were being sued or something like that? Apparently the warranty is extended to september 31 2007 for them to get fixed.

Is there anything or any word for the 5100? What should I do, or is there anything I can do to fix it?

 

Since this is an overheating problem, I suggest that you try cleaning the air vents with a can of compressed air and check for results. If it still overheats, try updating the BIOS. If it still does not work, call tech support for workarounds. If they can't fix it, they will probably have the fans replaced.

 

ok i will try the canned air. but shouldn't i open up the laptop and try and clean it because where is all of the dust going to go if i just blow air into it???

well, im pretty sure the warrenty is up because its pretty old...just trying to get it work again. So I am not sure if tech support would be any good.

 

Tech support should try their best to make your system up and running, even if it is almost a decade old. If it cannot be fixed due to defective parts, they should give you some workarounds. But most likely suggest you to buy a new system.

You can actually just use the can of compressed air to blow into the fan vent on the bottom vent and the two cooling vents located on the back and side of the computer, no need to open up your system.

 

Does it cost money to use their tech support though? Because, I know its free whenever you are under warrenty and such.

Also, well also along with this problem, I think I am having ram problems I'm thinking. Firstly, I was having random problems, like it wouldn't boot up and whenever it would, it would overheat and such(but that would happen regardless).

So I've been trying to reformat but it hasn't been working too well. I keep on getting blue message error whenever I try to reinstall windows. Maybe its just tell to get a new one.

Maybe anything else I can do to fix? maybe messing around in the bios or soemthing?

 

or could it be a hardrive issue?

also, if it is a ram issue...where would you recommened i would buy it? ebay good enough? What kind of ram should i buy as well? can you reccommend a kind?

 

Since it's an old system, the reason is most likely because there's too much congested dust in and around the air vents and fans.

My friend was having this problem too, albeit with a different brand but still old laptop. He opened it up and cleaned out a mountain full of dust, and his laptop ran like brand spanking new once again .

 

I was having ongoing issues for years with the 5100 running hot (Dell even did some sort of repair, I forgot what they did). Usually it would run at close to 76'C. Shooting compressed air in the back (and still do on a monthly basis) would help. One day out of frustration I just decided to repeatedly blow into the rear vent with my mouth, forming a tight seal around all of it, and it has made a difference for me, clearing out more dust than I think compressed air does. The 5100 runs now at 54'C and peaks at maybe 65'C or so. Might be worth a shot instead of opening the 5100, which I was going to try next.