Fujitsu Siemens Amilo D 1845 overheating!

[So_krates]

Hi,

Could really do with some help on this one. I have a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo D 1845.
I have recently upgraded the hard drive from an Hitatchi 4500 rpm to a Seagate 5400 rpm. Talking to the sales guy at the time I said I was worried about increased heat (apparently this is a widely reported issue with this laptop). He said that the as the drive was newer technology it should run at a cooler temperature (I am not blaming this guy as I took the risk). Anyway my fears have been confirmed . I downloaded Sisandra benchmarking software and the temperature of the hard drive just seems to creep up and up.
The last time I measured the temperature it was 55c. Looking at the specs this is within the operating temperature (-40 to 70 c). What is really worrying though is the case is very warm and I can actually smell either burning plastic (or maybe motherboard) . I need a very cheap temporary solution. I am potentially going to be short of money for a few months but really need my laptop so a laptop cooler is out of the question (I also have doubts as to how effective it would be anyway). I have thought of maybe running a cable to the outside of laptop and using it externally. Does anybody know if this is possible without damaging the hard drive and without having to pay for any expensive solutions.

Any help appreciated .

Thanks.

[nffc]

Can't you put the old HD back in? It's pretty evident the new one is not compatible, it's running too hot and it WILL melt the plastic or something to cause serious damage if you leave it in there.

[So_krates]

Nffc,

No this isn't an option. I should have explained I upgraded because the old hard drive died totally (something I suspect may also have been related to overheating) but thanks for your response.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by So_krates

Nffc,

No this isn't an option. I should have explained I upgraded because the old hard drive died totally (something I suspect may also have been related to overheating) but thanks for your response.

Are you applying compressed air regularly? I have an Acer laptop which suffers the same problem. I find applying compressed air regularly helps, but it's not a solution really. It's just poor design.

[So_krates]

Daniel,

Yes. Believe it or not I paid 10 pounds for a can of compressed air from PC world. I regularly clean it but like you say it's more design than neglect that's causing the problem.

Thanks for your response though.

[Alien]

Originally Posted by So_krates

Yes. Believe it or not I paid 10 pounds for a can of compressed air from PC world.

Unless it's an extra big can then that's too much. Try Maplin, or maybe Staples next time, if you have 1 near you. You shouldn't have to pay more than £6 for a 400ml can.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by So_krates

Daniel,

Yes. Believe it or not I paid 10 pounds for a can of compressed air from PC world. I regularly clean it but like you say it's more design than neglect that's causing the problem.

Thanks for your response though.

If your Motherboard supports boot from USB and it's an IDE drive the following might do the job:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120659

£12 excluding postage, but it should solve your problem. Comes with a fan

Alternatively, you could check out ebay for similar products.

[dragon]

Originally Posted by danielf

If your Motherboard supports boot from USB and it's an IDE drive the following might do the job:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120659

£12 excluding postage, but it should solve your problem. Comes with a fan

Alternatively, you could check out ebay for similar products.

Wrong one, you'd want one for a 2.5" drive

But i'm not sure that would help anyway as it might not boot

I rekon its not the hard-drive anyway its the CPU
IMHO p4 @ 3.2ghz in a laptop is just a bad move (i have a toshiba that has one in and it used to overheat all the time)

Infact It killed 2 512mb ram modules and a wireless card (well i think it killed the wireless card it just started corrupting data might have been because it was a crap wi-fi card)

I find using it flat surface helps, also clean the vents out regularly...

Also this might help if its running xp.
http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/

It can be set to drop the cpu speed when the cpu isn't being maxed, on mine it drops it to 1.6ghz and helps with the temps a fair bit.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by dragon

Wrong one, you'd want one for a 2.5" drive

But i'm not sure that would help anyway as it might not boot

Ah, pardon me. If the MB supports boot from USB (as newer ones do), then surely it would boot?

I rekon its not the hard-drive anyway its the CPU
IMHO p4 @ 3.2ghz in a laptop is just a bad move (i have a toshiba that has one in and it used to overheat all the time)

Infact It killed 2 512mb ram modules and a wireless card (well i think it killed the wireless card it just started corrupting data might have been because it was a crap wi-fi card)

In my acer the problem is that there is just very little HD cooling. The fan only seems to kick in when the processor heats up, and it has very little effect on HD temps.

In fact, I've just done an online virus scan which sent my HD temp up to 51. The fan stopped the moment the scan was finished. I think the drive would benefit from the fan working a little longer if any air actually passed over it. I don't think it does though.

[dragon]

Originally Posted by danielf

Ah, pardon me. If the MB supports boot from USB (as newer ones do), then surely it would boot?



In my acer the problem is that there is just very little HD cooling. The fan only seems to kick in when the processor heats up, and it has very little effect on HD temps.

In fact, I've just done an online virus scan which sent my HD temp up to 51. The fan stopped the moment the scan was finished. I think the drive would benefit from the fan working a little longer if any air actually passed over it. I don't think it does though.

The bios might well boot the drive but windows doesn't like running off a usb drive, it NEEDS to put files on the internal drive.

If anything it will get so far though loading decide it needs a driver for the drive and BSOD.

[So_krates]

All,

Thanks for your responses. It'll give me a few things to think about and try out.

Thanks.