HP Pavilion Laptop shutting down randomly after Windows 7 install.

[Ragstar]

Hi All,

I've now had my HP Pavilion dv3-2120ea Laptop running Windows Vista for 2 months without any problems. This Thursday I received Windows 7 on a free upgrade and installed it this weekend with no problems.

I first changed the bios with the HP cd and then went to it installing WIndows 7 from scratch rather than choosing the upgrade option. Installed the OS no problem and was running it most of Saturday fine.

Today I started playing some computer games (WoW) while running music from my external hard drive. After about an hour the computer just cut off with no warning. Didn't do the Windows is shutting down screen, just off completely dead. I first checked the power cable to see it was still plugged in ok and then turned the laptop back on. Got back into the game, this time with no music, and again after about 20 minutes it switches itself off again. I turned it back on again and started checking the net for any problems and saw people suggesting it might be a PSU issue or a overheating issue.

I know it wouldn't be a psu issue being a laptop so installed some temperature software and went back into WoW. The temp of the CPU was around 90c when in a busy part of the game, I haven't got much experience with laptops but for a desktop that would be pretty high.

After changing the CPU to run at only 85% and playing some more games the computer has shut off again after being in use for 45minutes. I'm now going to see how long it runs without playing any games.

Some questions I wanted to ask are:

1. Does anyone know if the 90c might be the issue or do laptops run higher than desktop?

2. Could it possibly be the new bios installed that have reset the fan speeds so they don't run as fast as it used to thus making it overheat and if so how do I change that? I've looked at the bios and can't see anything.

3. Is this just the simple case of a hardware failure and I need to send it back to HP?

[arthurleung]

90'C is probably the thermal cutoff point of that laptop, past about 83'C the CPU will start throttling down to about half the speed. And if you put something close to 100'C near the battery it could degrade it quickly or even cause it to explode.

Try cleaning your laptop fan, and put something underneath it so it can "breath". Depends on the quality of the heatsink the peak temperature should be well under 75'C. My old laptop tops at 73'C for 24x7 full load, while my Dell tops at 51'C unless I put it on my bed which goes up to 63'C.

[Ragstar]

90'C is probably the thermal cutoff point of that laptop, past about 83'C the CPU will start throttling down to about half the speed. And if you put something close to 100'C near the battery it could degrade it quickly or even cause it to explode.

Try cleaning your laptop fan, and put something underneath it so it can "breath". Depends on the quality of the heatsink the peak temperature should be well under 75'C. My old laptop tops at 73'C for 24x7 full load, while my Dell tops at 51'C unless I put it on my bed which goes up to 63'C.

Thanks for your reply.

I would clean it usually but the Laptops only two months old so wouldn't want to void the warrenty. I just really want to know if this is a hardware fault or if it's something to do with software that I can have a go at fixing. I don't want to have to send the thing back to HP just to find out it's something I could have sorted myself.

I was just running some videos last night and the temp was was about 55c - 60c.

[arthurleung]

Thanks for your reply.

I would clean it usually but the Laptops only two months old so wouldn't want to void the warrenty. I just really want to know if this is a hardware fault or if it's something to do with software that I can have a go at fixing. I don't want to have to send the thing back to HP just to find out it's something I could have sorted myself.

I was just running some videos last night and the temp was was about 55c - 60c.

You just open the bottom cover and use a moist cotton bud to clean out the dust. Shouldn't break any warranty seal.

Or alternatively use something like RMClock to force a lower clock speed, or lower voltage.

[McClane]

You just open the bottom cover and use a moist cotton bud to clean out the dust. Shouldn't break any warranty seal.

Or alternatively use something like RMClock to force a lower clock speed, or lower voltage.

Given the BIOS and the OS have just been updated and the over heating issue appeared immediately after this wouldn't this be the first place to look before opening up the laptop? If it's possible it might be worth going back to a previous version of the BIOS.

[Ragstar]

Given the BIOS and the OS have just been updated and the over heating issue appeared immediately after this wouldn't this be the first place to look before opening up the laptop? If it's possible it might be worth going back to a previous version of the BIOS.

Just checked on the HP website and it's says it's not possible to roll back to a previous version of the BIOS and don't have a CD for the original BIOS.