HP dv4150 shutting down, overheating

My HP Pavillion dv4150 has shut itself down about 5 times in the past two weeks.

It first happened when I was watching something on Youtube (and had Firefox open too, and possibly Outlook), and since then it has happened while doing the same thing, but once just when I had Firefox and Outlook open. It also shut down while attempting to rip tracks from a CD. It doesn't shut down EVERY time I run youtube or a graphics-intensive thing. It reboots fine every time.

A few days before this problem started, Skype kept freezing every 30 seconds into a call, to the extent that I had to close it. The computer did not shut down. Since the problem started, I have used Skype for a 1 1/2 hour call and it worked perfectly.

Downloaded Speedfan and HWMonitor. HW Monitor shows 3 temps:
ACPI
THR0 - ranges from 53 C to 91 C. Right now, after having computer on for a few hours, running on battery only, it's 62 C.
THR1 - 42 C
FUJITSU...
HDD - 40 C

Speedfan:
HD0 - 40 C
Temp 1 - 42 C (last night it went up to 84 C, with a flame next to it)
Temp 2 - 33 C (last night it went up to 84 C, with a flame next to it)

It didn't automatically shut down when the temperatures reached 91 C on HW Monitor, or 84 C on Speedfan. I didn't run the computer much longer after I saw those temperatures, for fear of something frying.

I have blown air into the small fan at the back (the side of the laptop that feels hottest to the touch), myself and a can of compressed air. I also gently stuck a small paperclip into the fan grid and removed some dirt that was stuck to the blades. I also dusted the keyboard - found quite a bit of dust, and hair. I haven't been able to take the back off yet to see how much dust is there.

I'm buying a laptop cooler tomorrow, and in the meantime will try to prop up the back of the laptop to help the ventilation.

I ran a virus check (Trend Micro) last week, after the first time it happened. Found 13 spywares and that's it - and from my research, they didn't appear to be "serious" spywares.

Typical usage of the computer is running Firefox, Outlook 2003, Excel, Youtube (usually only with Firefox, not with the other programs), and LogMeIn - I access another computer remotely.

For a long time now it has taken a while to see photos in My Pictures in My Documents.

Could it be the power supply? The ACPI temperature in HW Monitor is the one that is always hottest, and I've read that ACPI is often directly linked to the power supply. This morning the computer has been on about 2 hours with only the battery on, and I plugged in the power about 5 minutes ago to charge it, and the power supply is already very hot. Speedfan temperature for HD0 went up from 41 C to 42 C, and since I unplugged it just now, it went back down to 41 C. Is it worth trying a new power supply? These problems started about a week after I moved where my laptop is plugged in - it's now into a socket next to one that holds the TV, Cable box, modem, and microwave. Not sure if that would affect things.

Could it be my graphics card is overheating, causing the rest of the laptop to overheat?

Is it worth defragging the hard drive? Haven't done that for a while. I have removed some unnecessary programs, both from the computer completely, and from the list of startup programs.

My biggest fear is frying the hard drive or motherboard. If anyone can offer any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

HP Pavillion dv4150 purchased October 2005
Windows XP version 2002, Service Pack 2
Intel Pentium (R) M Processor, 1.60 GHz
590 MHz, 504 MB RAM
Device Manager:
Disk Drives - FUJITSU MHT2060AT PL
Batteries - Microsoft AC Adapter
Display Adapters - LogMeIn Mirror Driver, Intel Mobile...
SoundMax Digital Audio, Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS 910 GML Express
Hard Drive: 38.5 GB used, 17.1 GB free

 

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that ACPI is a power management utility that defines power states for the computer. ACPI would be linked to the power supply because ACPI defines the power states for things like hibernate, Suspend to RAM, Soft-off, Mechanical Off, etc. I think ACPI temperature refers to ACPI-Compliant Components, like the CPU.

THR0 is Thermal Zone #0, and that is the CPU temp. Something about your CPU temp ranging from 53 to 91 just seems totally out of whack. I have a dv9000 which has been running for the past 2 days now. I've got 100GB of files transferring between 2 USB hard drives and I'm downloading files to a eSATA hard drive. On top of that, I'm compiling about 500,000 lines of code. My CPU has been at nothing lower than 75%, and at best my temp will jump to 70 degrees.

You shouldn't need to defrag. That would only affect Windows performance, not the overheating issue. Have you upgraded anything recently in your laptop?

 

Thanks. I don't think so. Maybe the regular HP updates which it prompts me for every now and again.

I've had the machine on now about one hour via AC power, after the battery ran out. Temp1 and Temp2 on Speedfan are now 82C and 56C respectively, with flames next to them. HW Monitor temp for THR0 is in the 60s. HW Monitor THR1 and HDD temps do mirror the Speedfan Temp2 and HD0 temps as they always do - 56C and 42C.

The power supply is incredibly hot. Painfully hot, in fact. I've unplugged it and am running it via the battery, and propped up the back of the laptop with a couple of books.

Where I am (New York) has been very hot and humid the past few weeks, if that might be contributing a bit to the overheating.

 

Please see the cooling guide. It sounds like your CPU is overheating causing it to thermally shutoff. I have a pentium M 1.6 myself and it shouldnt run that hot, 65c is my maximum.

Cleaning the fans from the outside doesnt always cut it. There can be piles of dust in the inside you cant see.

Also you might want to consider changing thermal paste due to the age of your notebook.

 

Thanks. I'll try taking the bottom off and cleaning out the dust tomorrow. After the accumulation of dust, what's the most likely reason for the CPU overheating, if that is the issue? It does seem to struggle more with graphics-heavy applications or websites.

I bought this laptop to replace one that died, apparently (according to the computer tech who attempted to fix it) because the graphics card got overheated (I used to play a video game on that machine a lot), leading to the other components overheating too.

 

If it's not the dust, then you may want to consider adding thermal paste like flipfire said. The Thermal paste shouldn't be more than $5 and entails you removing the Heatsink from the CPU. Since laptops don't usually include instructions for removing the CPU/Heatsink, you may want to google it first before you begin.

Also, I'm not sure how an embedded GPU works on a laptop, but if it's like the GPU on a desktop then you may want to add thermal paste to that too if the graphics is overheating.

 

I currently have a dv4145, and have had the same problem as you did. To my understanding, it should be relatively simple to solve. I've had this laptop for almost three years and had to clean the CPU/heatsink twice during this period...!

Right next to the fan grill on the bottom of the laptop, there should be a small latch with ONE screw. Remove that latch and you'll see the heatsink. By now you should be able to find masses of dust sitting in the heatsink. Continue to dismantle the heatsink by unscrewing the four screws securing it, and then you'll see the CPU itself.

Remove the dust from the CPU, screw the heatsink back on, and then the latch. That should get rid of the overheating problem.

Let us know how it goes for you!

 

Thank you! I'll try that this evening and let you know how it goes.

 

Got to the heatsink and was very pleased to find a bunch of thick dust inside it - at least it's a feeling I'm getting closer to figuring out the problem. Cleaned that out. Removed heatsink, cleaned the dust from around the CPU.

Started the computer back up. Before, the Temp1 temp on Speedfan (the one that sometimes rockets up to 80 something) was 57 - it's still the same, but I'm not expecting miracles.

However, the THR1 temp in HWMonitor, which nearly always mirrors the Temp1 Speedfan temp (except when Temp1 suddenly rockets up), hasn't been above 41 C all day. And now, since I switched it back on after cleaning up the heatsink and CPU, HWMonitor's THR0 is 44 degrees. I haven't seen it that low since I downloaded HWMonitor a few weeks ago, just after all this started.

Just opened Outlook (I previously only had Firefox open) and it went up into the 50s, but has dropped back down into the 40s after being idle for about 10 seconds. Not counting my chickens just yet though...

 

Good on you! Keep us posted with the progress!

 

No overheating issues since I cleaned out the heatsink.

I have yet to try and rip a DVD, which shut it down twice before.