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Laptop overheating / System restore not working / battery dead or dying

Anonymous
2016-04-19T03:19:06+00:00

Hi,

As I stated in the subject line, I have a number of questions I need help with.

QUESTION 1:

My laptop has been shutting down by itself and without warning while I've tried to play games, which have worked completely fine in the past. I would say that even less than a year ago, maybe up to 10 months ago, everything was working fine. But starting a few months ago, say October or November, I've noticed that some games that used to run fine would shut down my PC after just a few minutes of playing. It was no longer able to make it to an hour, even. In one instance, me attempt at converting a long video file with a converter program also caused my laptop to shut down.

Around this time I've also noticed that some programs that used to work properly before wouldn't even start up anymore, such as ShadowExplorer and a launcher for one of the games that I have.

A couple years ago I disabled automatic updates on my PC since they caused windows to start up a lot slower than before. Once I disabled the updates, windows seemed to start up a lot better than before. After the more recent issues that I explained above, I decided to finally run the updates again to see if it would help. Fortunately, it did fix the problems I had with those programs, which are now working fine. I was also hoping that whatever the updates were able to fix could also transfer on over to my games, although I haven't decided to try them out until just last night. But now, however, I don't think that whatever was missing before the updates were installed was causing the issue with my games, and that it is indeed an overheating issue.

I should mention that recently I found and downloaded SpeedFan, which tells me the temperatures of my laptop. The program monitors the temperatures of four devices: My GPU, HD0, Core0, and Core1. I've noticed that the GPU temperature is now almost always above 60, sometimes going as high as 80 - 85 while I'm just watching a video online or have the Windows Media Player running. The Core0 and Core1 are also always high, running at around 60+ each. The HD0 is the only one that always runs at a regular temperature, which is currently at 38.

Last night, while attempting to play the game, the GPU temperature eventually reached 90, and a couple minutes later, went all the way up to 100, even up to 105. A minute or two later, my PC shut down. I tried it again later, and the game ran for a longer amount the second time, it ended up shutting down again.

Is SpeedFan fully reliable and accurate? If so, then it's definitely an overheating issue, isn't it?

QUESTION 2:

After shutting down for the second time, I've noticed that some of the icons on my taskbar and Start menu that were usually there were no longer appearing, so I tried running a System restore to see if that could fix that more minor issue. However, the restore didn't complete successfully and I got this error message:

"System Restore did not complete successfully. Your computer's system files and settings were not changed.

Details:

System Restore failed while restoring the registry from the restore point.

The restore point was damaged or was deleted during the restore."

It then told me that I could try Restore again with a different restore point (which I did), but that didn't work either and I received the same error message. What can I do about this?

QUESTION 3:

My laptop battery has been dying (or is dead) for a while now, and I can no longer run my laptop without having the charger plugged in. If I unplug it, the laptop shuts down after just four minutes or so, even if the battery starts out at a 100% charge, like it says it does.

So my questions about this are:

A.) Our recent electricity bill has been higher than usual. Does charging a dead or dying battery take up more energy than usual and could that be causing the rise in the bill? Or is that unrelated? We moved to our new apartment half a year ago and since then our bill has been higher (we're not doing anything differently here than we did in our old apartment), but I want to make sure that it's not the laptop or its dying battery that's contributing to that.

B.) Could a dead or dying battery cause a laptop to overheat? I tried to try out my game again without the charger plugged in but, as I said earlier, it shut down after just a couple minutes after entering the game (while the GPU temp was only at 78), so I couldn't test it out like I wanted to. Once I plugged the charger back in and turned my laptop back on, the battery was only at 3%... yet just a couple minutes later it was back at 100%... However after that, I tried my game again and while I was in it and my GPU was up at around 90 degrees, I unplugged the charger again quickly to see if it would cause any drastic changes in temperature. but it didn't. or perhaps I didn't give it enough time to do so. I don't know.

Here's my System Information as copied from the System Information window:

OS Name: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

Version: 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601

Other OS Description:  Not Available

OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation

System Name: OWNER-PC

System Manufacturer: TOSHIBA

System Model: *

System Type: x64-based PC

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU       M 330  @ 2.13GHz, 2133 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

BIOS Version/Date: TOSHIBA 1.50, 12/02/2010

SMBIOS Version: 2.6

Windows Directory: C:\windows

System Directory: C:\windows\system32

Boot Device: \Device\HarddiskVolume1

Locale: Canada

Hardware Abstraction Layer: Version = "6.1.7601.17514"

User Name: Owner-PC\Owner

Time Zone: Pacific Daylight Time

Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 4.00 GB

Total Physical Memory: 3.86 GB

Available Physical Memory: 1.54 GB

Total Virtual Memory: 7.73 GB

Available Virtual Memory: 5.58 GB

Page File Space: 3.86 GB

Page File: C:\pagefile.sys

I should admit that I am not very skilled with computer technicalities as I only ever use laptops for the usual internet browsing and that kind of stuff. So I hope I was able to provide enough helpful information in an attempt to receive legitimate advice.

So, yes, I hope I can get some help, answers, or advice in regards to my questions, and I would like to thank and extend my appreciation to everyone who will end up reading this entire post and attempt to give advice, in advance.

Thank you.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-04-19T07:37:09+00:00

    I checked out realtemp and while I can see the core temperature (always hovering around 50), I don't know where the GPU is supposed to be, and that's what I'm most concerned about as that's what always goes the highest. Is the GPU the main cause of a laptop to overheat and shut down during game playing? Also, should I run the Torture Test that comes with the program?

    Are the GPU fans the ones on the side of the laptop where the air comes out? If I can feel a breeze, a warm one, then would that mean yes, or should I go ahead and unscrew it just in case?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2016-04-19T11:55:26+00:00

    Okay laptop a tad different than a desktop :)

    But is regard to the inquiry you would go to settings and you'd most likely see AMD or NVidia and all you would have to do is check the box for the gpu.

    Lets see what CPU-Z or CPUID shows for Graphic's/ CPU/ Main Board/ Memory

    http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

    But logicly with all of the reports I'd use Task manager/ Performance section in it and Resource monitor on the very bottom and see what it shows on the Overview section

    I'd bet svchost.exe is using 50% of your cpu not leaving you a lot to game with.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-04-19T11:06:25+00:00

    My responses are the unbolded sentences:

    What is the model of your Toshiba laptop? System Information did not include my system model for some reason. Otherwise I'm not really sure how to find it. On the back of my laptop, like shown in the video here at the 0:32 mark ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLDtAEfxQyw ), I found a similar code of DC19V. Is that it?

    Describe your antivirus/antimalware environment. I've had Norton Internet Security for a few years now, and as far as I know, it has never given me any issues. I also use MalwareBytes because it was recommended to me on a tech forum, like this one, several years back. I should also mention that my laptop is five or six years old.

    Just looking around on the Internet with searches like 'toshiba laptop overheating' you will find lots of folks reporting thermal problems with their Toshiba systems - but it is not just Toshiba systems.  When your system overheats it shuts down to prevent permanent damage and CPU.  Video intensive things (like games) can generate a lot of heat.  It is good that your system is shutting down when it overheats so you won't burn something up. Yes, this was explained to me before. It may be good as a safety precaution but of course, it would be great if that wasn't even necessary.

    Over time with systems (even desktops) things like cooling vents and fans accumulate dust and debris which you may be able to blow some out with a can of compressed air.  Maybe your cooling fan is not running at the speed it needs to (or not running at all) or maybe it is just clogged up.  You would have to take the system apart to check all that.

    You also want to run your laptop on a flat surface so it can breathe.  Laptops are not make to run in your lap or on a blanket or on your bed.  They need ventilation.  And you will not be taking the side panel off a laptop either. My laptop has always been on a glass table.

    Your CPU has a heat sink or other way to dissipate heat and that relies on a heat conductive thermal paste between the CPU and the heat sink to transfer the heat so it can dissipate and that stuff can dry out over time and become ineffective.  You can repaste it but you have to take the system apart to do that.

    It could be that your system is not well suited or designed for the intensity of some of today's games.  If you have some kind of general purpose system or something designed for business applications it may not be able to handle the intensity of CPU and graphics that some games present. We bought this laptop with the guarantee that it could run games smoothly. And it did, as I mentioned before, until just a few months ago. Before then there was no problem. 

    You can find plenty of videos on the Internet that will walk you through resolving heat problems but may require you to take your system apart quite a bit so if you are not comfortable with that you could take is to a trusted shop and let their experts do it for you.  The Toshiba community and help forums may have a tutorial just for your model.

    If you take it to a shop be sure you demonstrate the problem(s) with temperatures before you leave and then when you pick it up run those same tests again so they can show you that they have made progress on your system's thermal issues.  You need to have the before and after results to be sure you are getting your the value you are paying for.

    What is your antivirus/antimalware situation?  Some AV programs will "protect" your system from changes - especially registry changes so that could be why your system restore is failing.  You might need to restore your system when those things are not loaded and running. I have CCleaner on my desktop and I've used that recently, though not for the first time. I am suspecting that that could have caused something which is now preventing System Restore from completing properly. The antivirus program information is stated above.

    A quick test would be to make a manual restore point, reboot your system in Safe Mode so your AV programs are not loading and see if you can restore your system to the restore point you just made.  Thatshould work and Microsoft even recommends using SR in Safe Mode if it fails normally. I could try this. I've been Cleanbooting my PC every time for the last couple months. So none of the usual extra startup programs activate with windows anymore. Which I would assume is a good thing.

    If your System Restore is broken you should fix it since they day you need it to work is not the day to find out it doesn't.

    If you want more ideas tell us the model of your Toshiba and what your antivirus/antimalware situation is.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-04-19T07:52:17+00:00

    What is the model of your Toshiba laptop?

    Describe your antivirus/antimalware environment.

    Just looking around on the Internet with searches like 'toshiba laptop overheating' you will find lots of folks reporting thermal problems with their Toshiba systems - but it is not just Toshiba systems.  When your system overheats it shuts down to prevent permanent damage and CPU.  Video intensive things (like games) can generate a lot of heat.  It is good that your system is shutting down when it overheats so you won't burn something up.

    Over time with systems (even desktops) things like cooling vents and fans accumulate dust and debris which you may be able to blow some out with a can of compressed air.  Maybe your cooling fan is not running at the speed it needs to (or not running at all) or maybe it is just clogged up.  You would have to take the system apart to check all that.

    You also want to run your laptop on a flat surface so it can breathe.  Laptops are not make to run in your lap or on a blanket or on your bed.  They need ventilation.  And you will not be taking the side panel off a laptop either.

    Your CPU has a heat sink or other way to dissipate heat and that relies on a heat conductive thermal paste between the CPU and the heat sink to transfer the heat so it can dissipate and that stuff can dry out over time and become ineffective.  You can repaste it but you have to take the system apart to do that.

    It could be that your system is not well suited or designed for the intensity of some of today's games.  If you have some kind of general purpose system or something designed for business applications it may not be able to handle the intensity of CPU and graphics that some games present.

    You can find plenty of videos on the Internet that will walk you through resolving heat problems but may require you to take your system apart quite a bit so if you are not comfortable with that you could take is to a trusted shop and let their experts do it for you.  The Toshiba community and help forums may have a tutorial just for your model.

    If you take it to a shop be sure you demonstrate the problem(s) with temperatures before you leave and then when you pick it up run those same tests again so they can show you that they have made progress on your system's thermal issues.  You need to have the before and after results to be sure you are getting your the value you are paying for.

    What is your antivirus/antimalware situation?  Some AV programs will "protect" your system from changes - especially registry changes so that could be why your system restore is failing.  You might need to restore your system when those things are not loaded and running.

    A quick test would be to make a manual restore point, reboot your system in Safe Mode so your AV programs are not loading and see if you can restore your system to the restore point you just made.  That should work and Microsoft even recommends using SR in Safe Mode if it fails normally.

    If your System Restore is broken you should fix it since they day you need it to work is not the day to find out it doesn't.

    If you want more ideas tell us the model of your Toshiba and what your antivirus/antimalware situation is.

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2016-04-19T04:12:09+00:00

    I use realtemp,

    http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2089/real-temp-3-70/mirrors

    It shows Ambient and core and gpu temps if selected to on the taskbar so it's easy to see,

    Have you made sure the gpu fan/ s are spinning ?

    Take off the side panel and see.

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