Overheating trouble? my toshiba satellite a215-s4277 laptop shuts off with no warning. the fan doesn't seem to be running as often as usual (or at all...) help!

Hi. The most common cause of overheating is a build up of dust inside the laptop, mainly on the fan blades and the heatsink, This dust also collects around the exhaust and becomes matted together like a quilt, blocking the hot air from escaping the unit, causing the laptop to overheat and shut down to protect the CPU from damage. You could try to clear the blockage with a can of compressed air, although in many cases this does not work. It all depends on the level of blockage. If this does not work, and if you feel confident about taking the laptop apart to remove the blockage, you could try this...
http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/toshiba-satellite-a215/disassemble-display-panel-1.htm Information courtesy of irisvist.com. Hope you will find this helpful.

If your fan is running OK, then it probably doesn't need cleaning.

I have a satellite A350 and it pumps out a LOT of heat but that doesn't mean it's overheating. It's more likely your CPU usage is very high, which makes it very hot.

Turn on the CPU Meter in the Windows sidebar and close all applications. Watch the CPU usage (the larger front meter) for about 20-30 seconds. If the AVERAGE level when running no other applications is over 40% or spiking up at 90 or 100% then you are probably running too much junk in the background, or you have a virus.

You should look for the following answers.
(1) Are you operating your laptop in a in a hot and dusty environment (If yes you should know that computers do not like hot and dusty environments and they shut down to avoid a complete burn out of the machine more over the dust particles also can destroy the hardware and block internal fan ventilation ducts in between the CPU and the fan).
(2) When the your laptop PC shuts down place your hand underneath the laptop and try to feel hot spots. If you find areas unusually heated then this is the main cause of the shut down.
(3) If just after the shut down and a good usage the Laptop is cool then underneath than overheating shut down might not be the case.
If you determined that heating is the cause and you cannot change your environment than you should look for other heavy duty laptops that are robustly designed for hot environments.
I do not think that resting the BIOS can cause this.

Replacing your fan will void your warranty.

I would advise talking to toshiba for a replacement.

If still you want to replace ir, you have to disassemble the whole laptop to replace the fan, all you have to do once disassembled is unplug the original one and plug the replacement one, but you have to use only compatible ones, or else you will burn your cpu or the fan wont fit.

For a quick resolution, buy a powerfol laptop cooler.

Cheers

Myself, my fiance, and my brother all have satellites and all three of ours have had that problem at one point or another. The problem with my computer was that it was overheating causing the shut down. Is the top of your computer hot to the touch when this happens? If so, I'd recommend propping it up on something to allow the air to escape from the cooling fan on the bottom of the unit. I hope this helps you.

I also have a Toshiba that started doing this. The problem was overheating. Try getting some of the canned compressed air and blowing out the fan and also the vents all the way around the computer. Also make sure the fan intake is unrestricted. I bought an aftermarket stand that has a built in fan that plugs into the USB.. My computer has not shut off once since then. Good Luck.

turn it off turn it over and clean the fan on the bottom. I use a Satellite a25. I have used air to blow out the cooling coils a nunber of times. Toshiba has picuten in the owners manual on how to remove the fan for cleaning. it picks up dust from the work area and does not blow it clear. this cause it to over heat most likely

Well i would suggest first cleaning the laptop fans, if they are clean then i would say its the fans and need replacing.

if fan is working well then it might have processor problem.

thank you for your response....I'm using Vista and the power seems to be on but the screen is down. I have to hold the power button down for 10 seconds to shut down then turn it back on to restore the computer. It is a Toshiba A215-S5818