Overheating

How’s your computer handling the heat? If a computer gets too hot, it can slow down or even shutdown entirely.

So what can you do? There’s quite few options, which can range from quick tricks to opening up the computer.

Quick and easy is to make sure there’s enough airflow around the vents. These will be at the back of a desktop, or underneath a laptop. For a desktop, position it with enough of a gap from the wall, although in most cases, the cables at the back make pushing the computer too close to the wall already impossible. Laptops should be on a flat surface like a desk or tray, rather than a bed, to keep the vents clear.

For laptops, you can get cooler pads that your laptop can sit on. These put fans directly under the laptop to improve airflow around the underneath of the laptop.

Another important thing to consider is dust. A computer can build up a surprising amount of dust, which can impact performance and make it harder for the computer to keep cool. For dusting inside a computer, first make sure the computer is off, then use an air duster can to blow away the dust with compressed air. It’s important to make sure that the computer’s fans aren’t being forcibly turned by the air dusting, so be careful where you spray. Air duster cans are available in specialist computer stores, and can also sometimes be found in more general shops that have computer sections.

If you’re not confident in air dusting a computer, we include it as part of our Service-IT package which is designed to optimise a computer and speed it up to how it used to be.

Another more complicated solution is adding more fans to the inside of the computer, which requires looking at the computer to know where it can have fans added to the case, and if the power supply can fit another fan. If this is of interest to you, we can look at your computer, and find out how viable this is for you.

If you have any further questions about keeping your computer cool in the heat, just get in touch.