T400 overheating after Windows 7

I've had Win7 installed for 2-3 weeks and the laptop is getting very hot and has spontaneously shut down a couple of times. I will be buying a can of compressed air to try to clean any possible obstructions, but I do not think that is the cause. I had no such heat problems with Vista and could easily have the laptop on my lap without burning my leg - that's no longer the case.

In fact, right after installing Win7 I experienced a couple of shutdowns due to heat before installing Power Manager, so I do not believe the fan is working well. Right now, I don't think it's blowing at all. I'll take fan noise over too much heat.

Anyone else experience this after upgrading to Win7? What can I do to make the fan more active? Thanks!

 

Have you downloaded System Update 4 from Lenovo and get the latest drivers/software? Default Windows drivers are generics that would on a variety of systems, Lenovo's drivers are specifically made for your system. Could possibly fix some fan issues. Start there and report back.

 

Yes, within 1-2 days of the initial install. Last week I uninstalled the ATI & Integrated graphics drivers, turned on only integrated in the BIOS & let Windows install the integrated drivers. This was to try to reduce heat by not using the ATI graphics. I'll try the Lenovo System Update and see if it helps, but I'm not that hopeful.

 

Ok - so the only thing Lenovo Update installed was the PC-Doctor thing and a BIOS update (which I thought I had done and which the info file did not specify as doing anything significant).

PC-DOCTOR notes that the ATI drivers are not installed and that I should back up my stuff. And that my hard drive is almost full. I will probably uninstall it - it's not something I need running all the time.

 

Hi everyone,

I'm also in trouble with this problem. I have upgraded from Windows Vista to Windows 7 for a couple of weeks and yesterday my laptop suddenly shut down due to overheating. The left side of the keyboard was very hot at the time the machine automatically turned off.

Do you have any solution to this problem?

Thank you for reading my question.

 

@IBM_Lenovo_User: What BIOS version are you running? You can check by going to System Information in the Start Menu.

 

Lenovo's Power Manager 3 for Windows 7 should be able to control the CPU frequency and the fans to prevent it from overheating. Consider creating a power profile that reduces the Performance and System Temperature slightly. But if it get to a point that it is uncomfortably hot then you may need to check if the vents are clear and free from dust that may block the airflow. You can do this by using compressed air cans or by opening up the system (i.e. take out the keyboard) and carefully vacuum the vents and the fan itself. Also check if there is airflow coming out from the vents by putting your hand near it for a few seconds, if nothing seem to be happening then it indicates that the CPU fan may be failing to do its job properly, you should consider a replacement at this point.

The T400 should run relatively cool under Windows 7, my T61 uses the old Merom processors which run very hot compared to those of the T400, but it averages around 45 degrees during normal use in Windows 7 after tweaking with the Power Manager. Aftermarket paste also seem to help with the temperatures by a few degrees too.

 

@MidnightSun: My BIOS version is 7UET79WW (3.09), 10/13/2009. Is it too old? Do I need to upgrade it?

@Hearst555: Yes, the dust might be one of the problems. I will try to clean the machine tonight.

Using TPFanControl I see that the CPU temperature is currently very high. It's about 65 degree celsius when the CPU is ideal. The environment temperature is only about 27 degree celsius. What do you think about this?

 

1. As stated by MidnightSun - you need the latest BIOS.
2. You need to make the adjustments with the latest Lenovo's Power Manager (as Hearst55 said).
3. You need to constantly have a temp monitoring tool (HWinfo32, HWMonitor, Everest) always running to know your temps.
4. It might be a good idea to apply some decent thermal paste (MX-3,AS-5,IC-7/24,etc) for the CPU and or GPU thermal pads (if the factory uses pads instead of paste)
Good Luck

65C is fairly hot for idle. Do you keep your machine on a soft (carpet) surface? Is your room too dusty? Clean the vents (it should be a routine practice )

 

65 degrees C is very hot for an idle temperature. Make sure you have your T400 on a hard, flat surface with plenty of room for ventilation. Check Task Manager to see if any process is consuming a lot of your CPU cycles and preventing it from shifting to a lower power state. Also, make sure you're running on integrated graphics mode if you have switchable graphics - discrete graphics will increase heat.

According to the changelog, the fan behavior was tweaked in one of the later BIOS updates. You can try updating to the latest BIOS to see if that helps fix your issue.

 

The T400 now use BIOS v3.12-1.06 (01/27/2010), so the current one you have is out of date. [ Link]

Personally I think that's a tad too high if it's just idling. Check to see if you're using the ideal power profile under the Power Manager (don't use Maximum Performance) and create your own profile where necessary (You may need to go to "Advanced" mode to create custom profiles). A good clean will help the system if it's clogged up and as myself and Aikimox say, removing the old thermal paste and adding an aftermarket paste on the CPU and GPU chip helps if you confident on doing a bit of DIY.

 

@Aikimox: No, I often place the machine on a desk. At my office the desk is covered by a sheet of glass. At home it is simply a wooden surface.

I think the dust might be the cause. My room and my office are a little dusty. The BIOS will need to be updated too.

Thank you for your suggestions.

@Hearst555: Yes, I used to set the system to run at its maximum performance. After I change this setting to adaptive, the CPU's ideal temperature goes down to 58C. It's better now Thank you.

 

I bet on the new BIOS. Had a similar problem upgrading to W7 on my toshiba netbook. It started turning itself off from overheating (the CPU could reach 100C). The new BIOS update fixed it.