My laptop gets very hot and finally shuts down. How do I know if the fan is working or not? i can hear it but why is it so hot?

Sometimes, the computer gets really hot because the "ventilation" (cooling) system (fan, etc.) is not working properly. Normally, if it gets too hot, i.e. to an unacceptable level, the system will shut down. Or, it will catch on fire.
Yes, it's known that some battery will get too hot ... and potentially damage the system. So, if you already know that the cooling system is working properly, then try replacing the battery.

The fan that is on top of the CPU has a air vent and when that gets clogged with dust, that could cause the laptop to get hot. If you could get into the laptop then you could clear out any debris there in the vent. It could also be a bad fan or if you hear the fan spinning then the motherboard might be going bad because its not regulating the voltage.

it sounds like your cooling fan has stopped working therefore the cpu is getting too hot to work and will shut the system down have the cooling fan looked at

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.

“My Toshiba laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without any warning. Sometimes it works fine for hours, sometimes it shuts down in 10-15 minutes.” This complaint we hear from our customers over and over again. About 15-20% of all Toshiba laptops we get for repair, suffer from an overheating problem. Yep, OVERHEATING!
This is one of the most common problems with Toshiba laptops we deal with.
Indications of laptop overheating problem:

1. The keyboard and the bottom of your laptop are very hot when the laptop is working.
2. The CPU fans are working all the time at maximum rotation speed and operate much louder than before.
3. The laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning. When it just started, the laptop was shutting down after 1-2 hours and how it shuts down after 5-10 minutes of operation.
4. The laptop works fine when it runs idle, but shuts down as soon as you start using any memory demanding applications (DVD player, image editing software, video editing software, etc.).

Solution:
If the CPU heatsink is not clogged with dust and lint completely, you can use canned air and just blow it inside the laptop through the openings on the bottom and on the sides. It’s nice as a precaution measure, but it might not work if your laptop already has a problem and the heatsink is completely clogged.

1. Open the laptop case, so you can access the CPU fan and the heatsink. In some cases you can access the heatsink through the latch on the bottom of the laptop. Sometimes you have to open the laptop case all the way down.
2. Carefully disconnect the fan cables on the system board and remove the fan. If the fan makes unusual sound when it spins (grinding sound), I would recommend to replace the fan.
3. Clean the fan and the heatsink with compressed air.
4. I would also recommend removing old thermal grease from the CPU and applying new grease for better heat conductivity.

Hi..

Laptop shuts down? 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. Hot spot, fan always runs? Many laptop brands and models have characteristic hot spots, like a particular corner of the keyboard or over the battery compartment. Before proceeding with the more invasive cleaning techniques that involve opening up the laptop (and potentially breaking something), spend some time searching the web for user feedback on your make and model. The bothersome hot spot on your laptop that none of your friends or colleagues have ever hear of may be a characteristic issue with your particular model and not worth a major panic.Similarly, if the fan always runs, or almost always runs, it may be a characteristic of the particular model that it simply gets hot in normal operation, or the fan control software might be poorly conceived. As long as the laptop isn’t overheating, I’d probably learn to live with a fan that seems to run too much if it’s typical for the model, and only get worried when I don’t hear it anymore.


Regards

PCmania

if it just shuts down suddenly without logging off and doing a normal windows shutdown, you probably have heat issues to to dust clogging your heatsink. Using an air compressor at 80 lbs (canned air won't have enough pressure), blast air into the opening/grille where hot air is exhausted from the laptop. this will likely shoot a cloud of dust out of the bottom of the laptop. Shoot air into the fan intake on the bottom of the laptop next. If the laptop still shuts down suddenly, check that the fan is actually working (feel hot air blowing?) - maybe the fan is dead.

hope this helps! Let me know.

Since you do not hear the fan anymore I would start by opening up the case and seeing if power is going to the fan and make sure any connectors for it have not come loose. If the connectors are still hooked up chances are the fan is shot and needs to be replaced.

If you are not familiar with working around electronics and parts under power I would highly suggest you have some one who is familiar with this do it.

can you can do a virus scan and then a disk defrag
update windows
that should help you
make sure when your on its well ventilated if it's getting overly hot and shutting down could be another prob
i have had laptops that do get really hot
does it do it only when you have AC power plugged or even when your using battery

With something as small as a laptop, and with something as small as a laptop fan, troubleshooting is easy. You should easily be able to hear the whirring of the fan if it's running, especially if it's hot. If you don't hear it, it isn't working.