laptop turns off suddenly after 100% cpu

[Elijah Phineas]

My acer aspire laptop suddenly turns off all at once after 100% cpu
usage - usually after a few minutes of this. This happens
occasionally, not always, and while using different programs. I have a
pentium 4 1.7ghz, 512 RAM.
I think this is from overheating.

My question is - is there a way that i can prevent the cpu from going
up to 100%, even if I am willing to sacrifice speed. There are some
programs I have to run, and that spike the computer up to 100%. I
don't mind them taking more time, at 75% if this would prevent the
crashes.

Any ideas?

Elli

 

[Phillips]

Try to clean the fan, and all air access holes, cpu sink, try arctic silver
compund if applicable.
In BIOS you should have settings to avoid overheat - something like "run CPU
at 50% if temeprature reaches 60 C." You can set your own CPU speed and
treshold temperature. Since I never had an Aspire, I have no idea what's in
its BIOS, nor even if it's an Intel or AMD.

Michael

 

[Elijah Phineas]

Thanks Phillips,

I cleaned the fan, and that helps a bit - I have also installed a heat
monitor - and now I know that this was definitely a heating problem.

I would still like to have a way to slow down the cpu when the heat
goes up. I looked in my BIOS as you suggested and there is no option
like that listed.
Is there any other way not through the BIOS? Can a BIOS be updated?
Thanks for helping out.

Elli

 

[Quaoar]

Thanks Phillips,

I cleaned the fan, and that helps a bit - I have also installed a heat
monitor - and now I know that this was definitely a heating problem.

I would still like to have a way to slow down the cpu when the heat
goes up. I looked in my BIOS as you suggested and there is no option
like that listed.
Is there any other way not through the BIOS? Can a BIOS be updated?
Thanks for helping out.

Elli

You will have to start monitoring what application is responsible for
using the CPU - 100% is not normal. Rt-click the taskbar, select task
manager, processes tab will show the CPU usage and the process
responsible.

Check startup apps and verify that each is required to autostart.
Start/run command, type: msconfig...[enter], select the startup tab.
Review each application listed. Use this site as a guide to identifying
startup apps: http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php Uncheck
the box next to the ones that should not/need not run. Make a nore of
each one and open the application to find the switch to disable the
autostart permanently.

You can try to clean the cooling channels by blowing into the exhaust
ports with a can of compressed gas "dust cleaner" available at any
computer store (shut down and cool down the laptop before doing this).

Do a complete virus scan with updated virus defs, disk cleanup, defrag
as routine maintenance that can help the computer run more efficiently.
Make sure to check with Acer for updated drivers (including chipset
drivers, if any) for your computer. If there is an Acer Power Panel, it
might have the settings for speed throttling at high CPU load. The
Power Options control panel might also have those settings, but some
laptops use the proprietary power panel to fully enable the CPU
throttling.

Q

 

[Phillips]

Check their website - seems they have a BIOS Update utility that might help
update the BIOS. I do not understand how comes the BIOS don't have a Power
Management section.
Also, disable "Indexing Services" in XP Services.
Michael

 

[Phillips]

Elijah,
your battery might be worn off and you don't get enough power for the fan.
Another 'solution' is to organize your work such that you don't multitask.
For ex., I'd make another account where I don't do anything else but audio
filtering - hence, no need for virus scans, spybot etc.
All in all, something does not sound right for a laptop to run 100%CPU; did
you see this one?: http://www.cpuidle.de/
Michael