Gateway MX6440 heat sink failure

Overheating When the CPU overheats then it will shut down (i.e. thermal overload) and won't boot up again until it has cooled down. If this is the problem is not fixed then the CPU will eventually fail.
A faulty fan causes the problem or the fan and heat sink assembly are clogged with dust.
Check the CPU fan to see if it spins freely, if not replace the fan.
If the fan and heat sink is clogged with dust the remove the dust and make sure the vents are clear and dust free. Use a small brush and can of compressed air to do this.

do you get a 'NO Signal' display on monitor, or anything when booting?
if not check to see if you can see lights on inside the frame? if not, do you hear fan spinning or beeping? sometimes the fan on the heat sink over the processor will stop spinning. the chip needs cooling so if fan won't spin an error will not let pc boot up to save it from getting too hot.
if you can take frame off and find the processor chip on motherboard to see if it is spinning. if not that would stop it from booting. if it is spinning then it is something else like the graphics card failure.

OverheatingWhen the CPU overheats then it will shut down (i.e. thermaloverload) and won't boot up again until it has cooled down. If this is theproblem is not fixed then the CPU will eventually fail.
A faulty fan causes the problem or the fan and heat sink assembly are cloggedwith dust.
Check the CPU fan to see if it spins freely, if not replace the fan.
If the fan and heat sink is clogged with dust the remove the dust and make surethe vents are clear and dust free. Use a small brush and can of compressed airto do this.

Maybe it is overheating and it shuts down so that it does not damage the motherboard.

Three things that will cause a laptop to overheat.
1) Dust - Dust inside the computer, dust clogging the vents, dust around the fans, cpu and heat sink. Remedy - The best remedy is to take the laptop apart and blow the dust out with a can of compressed air. If you don't take it apart you could blow out the vents with a can of compressed air and it might work, but you will be blowing the dust inside.

2) A Fan not working. The laptop will have to be taken apart to replace the fan.

3) The Thermal Paste around the heat sink and cpu had dried up or is too thin to keep the unit cool. Take the laptop apart and apply a fresh coat of thermal paste around the cpu and heat sink.

One sure sign of overheating is that if you immediately try to power the laptop back up, it will not boot. But if you wait awhile and let it cool off then try to boot it up, you can boot successfully until it gets hot and shuts off.

You could also try a Cooling Pad that plugs into the usb port and the laptop sits on it. It has fans to keep the laptop cool. The pad can be purchased for under $20. Try Tiger Direct at:
http://www.tigerdirect.com

When the site comes up just type in the search box at the top: Laptop Cooling Pad. When the search results come back sort them by Price Low to High and you will see them starting at $5.99 or so.

I like the one below for $12.99

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1879782&CatId=3486

gateway zx4300 black screen fix

i think i might have found a fix, if you know how to fix the xbox with the fan trick this one will sound close to the same.

if when you turn the computer an you get nothing not one bit of color or brightness from the screen this is your fix, well it worked for me.

i am not responsible for any more damage you might encounter, this does require disassembly


1. take the computer apart until you have the fan and heat sink in front of you.


2. remove fan and heat sink from mother board.


3. (at own risk) with computer open an heat sink off plug in the power cord and turn the computer on.


4. leave computer on for 8 to 10 mins.


5. turn computer off after 10 mins remove power cord and re install heat sink and fan.


6. hold pwr button down for 15 sec.


7. plug computer back in and you should now have your screen back.


this method worked for me i am using the computer with the bad screen to type this up an has been restarted a couple times an is still working fine! hope this works for you!!

When the CPU overheats then it will shutdown (i.e. thermal overload) and won't boot up again until it has cooled down.If this is the problem is not fixed then the CPU will eventually fail.
A faulty fan causes the problem or the fan and heat sink assembly are cloggedwith dust.
Check the CPU fan to see if it spins freely, if not replace the fan. If the fan and heat sink is clogged withdust the remove the dust and make sure the vents are clear and dust free. Use acan of compressed air to do this.

The fan may be running too slow (faulty bearing) or the fan and heat sink assembly may be clogged with dust.
Check the CPU fan to see if it spinsfreely, if not replace the fan. If the fan and heat sink is clogged withdust the remove the dust and make sure the vents are clear and dust free. Use acan of compressed air to do this.

You will need to most likely replace too many parts to make it economical to repair your machine.

When you encounter about this issue this is overheating problem maybe the CPU fan is not spinning and faulty already, you need to check the CPU fan and replace a new one.

Computers may not be smarter than people, but if they’re designed properly, they will shut themselves down before overheating to the extent that they do themselves damage. If the smart person keeps turning the notebook back on and figures out a way to foil the protection, the laptop is probably doomed.

Once a laptop shuts down for thermal event protection, it may refuse to power back up for a fixed period of time, five or ten minutes, or it may begin to boot and shut down immediately as soon as it boots to the point that it can figure out that its too hot.

The over-temperature protection is generally a BIOS rather than an operating system function, so one sign of an overheated laptop is one that shuts itself down while you’re using it and then refuses to boot as far as the operating system unless you leave it alone for an hour or so to cool down.

Unless you’ve been working in a very unfriendly environment, high temperatures, direct sunlight, etc, you should take even a single overheating shutdown as a warning to back up your data at the first opportunity and to give the cooling system a serious cleaning.

"Turn off computer and unplug power cord. <br>Disconnect all external devices. <br>Remove the battery. <br>Press power button and hold for 10 to 15 seconds. <br>Plug power cord back into computer and press power button. <br>Check front panel LEDs (lights) on bezel (front face) or optical drives and listen for power supply fan. <br>If LEDs are on or power supply fan starts spinning, watch for boot screen on monitor. <br>If computer begins to start, turn it off. <br>Reconnect any external devices. <br>Press the power button and make sure the computer starts.
Please save this steps and go through that. If in case you require further help, you need to contact Answers by Gateway department which is a paid support. The phone number for Answers by Gateway is 1.800-237-6483. Or please consider contact with a local technician for a detailed troubleshooting."
worked for mee!! good luck