Ask the Techno

By Jon Kenton

Some Like It Hot, but the Hardware Doesn’t

Q. I have had a problem with my computer recently where it will seemingly shut down all on its own. I also get various messages that tell me my computer was automatically shut down due to a “thermal event.” I take it that this means it is overheating. The computer is a little over two years old and I have never had any problems like this before. What can I do about this?
A. Anything that uses electricity generates its own heat—it doesn’t have to be a dryer or an oven to get hot. The electronic components in a computer not only create a lot of heat (especially the CPU chip itself) but also have a specific tolerance within which they will work. The tolerance of each specific chip will vary, but what is known as the maximum core temperature tends to be in the 140–175 degree range. As a CPU generates a lot of its own heat, this does not mean that it’s okay for the box to be this hot; in fact, it should be kept a lot cooler.
If your system has a heat problem, it is possible that you have a real hardware issue. My first guess and suggestion, however, would be to check a number of physical things first:
Where do you keep the main unit? Is it on the desk with plenty of room, or is it stuck in a small enclosed space (desk cabinet) with no airflow? If it’s the latter and it’s been there a while, has anything changed? For example, many desk cupboards have ventilation holes in the back. Has something fallen down the back and blocked these holes?

Have you ever cleaned your computer? Yes, they get dirty like everything else. Just imagine what two years’ worth of dust inside the main unit would look like. Unplug everything and give the outside a good cleaning. You can buy cans of compressed air in an office store (don’t use a powerful shop compressor—you can cause damage) and you can blow this in the air vents to loosen the dust and then give it a gentle vacuuming.

It is possible that the cooling fan in the unit has failed. Plug everything back together and turn the PC on. Be sure that you can see the back. Check that the fan is operating. If not, this will likely be the cause of the problem, and it will need to be replaced.

A thorough cleaning inside and a check-over would be a great idea. I would not recommend that you disassemble the main unit yourself unless you are comfortable with such things. A quick call to the folks at Computer Troubleshooters ((480) 423-2983) will get you a trained technician who can clean out the main unit and help fix your problem.
Working Memory

Q. I have bought some software that states that it needs a specific minimum amount of memory and free hard disk space. How can I check what I have in my computer?
A. You need to look at the system properties to identify how much memory is in your PC. You can do this one of two ways. 1) Go to the control panel (an option on the Start menu) and click on System or 2) also on the Start menu is an item called My Computer. If you right-click on it and select Properties, it will take you to the system properties. On the General tab, which should be the default, you will see information about the operating system. At the bottom will be the information about your installed CPU and how much memory (RAM) you have.
To see what disk space you have, click on My Computer, and you should see a list of your hard-disk drives. There will be at least one, usually labeled Local Disk (C:), on which you right-click and select Properties. This will bring up a display that shows you the total capacity, which includes used and free space on your drive.