Windows 7: Need to Clean a laptop Inside?

I took my laptop in to Best Buy because I was getting a message that the computer cooling system was not working properly and then the computer would shut down.

Best Buy said I need to have the inside cleaned of dust.
Is this true?

Toshiba Satellite C675D-S7109
Windows 7

Steve

It's very possible your laptop has a dust problem. The inside of a laptop doesn't have very much room compared to a desktop. So all of the major components like motherboard, hard drive, RAM, GPU, etc are shoved together with very little room to spare. There's usually one small fan that's supposed to circulate the air to keep things cool. The least little dust build up can seriously affect that air flow resulting in overheating. This article gives some suggestions on how to clean your laptop. If you google "how to clean a laptop" you can find several more articles.

How to clean your laptop of dust and dirt | News | TechRadar

You shouldn't have to take anything apart other than the access covers on the bottom of the machine. A can of compressed air should be able to blow out much of the dust buildup. Use short bursts of air or you may find the liquid propellant squirting out. That would be very bad. Also, always keep the can upright and don't tilt it. Same problem - liquid propellant could be released.

You should always keep the laptop on a hard flat surface so the vents don't get blocked by a pillow, blanket, or even your lap. Air flow is critical. And many people use a laptop cooling pad to help circulate air around the machine.

Laptop cooler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hello and welcome asfrye take a look at these mate I use them for cleaning Toshiba's and have done a few now including my own.

Taking apart Toshiba laptops and notebooks. DIY guides. Disassembly instructions. < read this front page thoroughly as it is important when removing and especially replacing the ribbon cables - there are two small pull out lugs on either side that are hard to see sometimes and you will need to disconnect them as some of the cables go through the bottom panel openings.

Here you will find most of the models I say most because sometimes models that are close together use the same method but are not necessarily listed Disassemble, repair, take apart, upgrade, clean Toshiba laptop or notebook yourself.

If you have nay problems post back you can clean without disassembly but it is long and tedious and of course not so thorough. Don't forget the usual precautions of grounding yourself from time to time and make sure you do the thermal compounds while in there as it will be invariable dry (in my experience especially the CPU the graphics chip usually has a "jelly" like compound which I replace with the same compound as the CPU.

If you take my tip get the Arctic cleanup and prep kit and Arctic silver compound for both sites. See them here Arctic Silver Incorporated - ArctiClean and the compound Arctic Silver Incorporated - Céramique 2
The "radiator" is best cleaned with one of those cheap hogs hair brushes dampened with alcohol after blowing the worst off and then gently rubbed through with some of those pipe cleaners Pipe cleaner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia or they are sold as chenille kids play wires.

The fan can be cleaned with the hogs hair brush in much the same manner (the bearings are sealed so don't worry only don't drown it) and I always apply a little of that car vinyl stuff to the blades and polish them which makes the surfaces that much smother and also slightly anti static.
Now you don't have to but I have some sheer curtain material duct taped to the fan opening after I have finished to prevent crud from getting in.

Thank you, marsmimar, and ICit2lol.

You've given me everything I need. Excellent website links. Just what I was looking for.
Thanks again.

Steve

Steve just take yourtime my friend and look out for the small screws in and round the middle of the bottom panel they canbe very hard to see at times.
ONE GOLDEN RULE with the bottom panel if it does not lift away easily DO NOT force it there willl be a screw you have missed!

John

Steve I did mean to mention too do the de construct on a large flattened out white towel of some sort - hold it to the top with duct tape. Best if the towel is cotton and therefore will not create much static.
Reason is if you drop a screw it will usually bounce just the once and not onto the floor where you will have a heck of a job to find it

John

Happy to help. FYI, John's advice is spot on. He has a lot of personal experience repairing/rebuilding different makes and models.

Thanks. Got it.
Will post a follow-up after I finish in a week or two.
Steve

Just for excrement and merriment, I opened the back of my seven month old Lenovo notebook to see if it needed cleaning. There is one large panel on the back that exposes everything I would ever need to get at (access to the RAM and HDD is amazingly easy). The first thing I noticed was the panel captures the screws so no worries about dropping or losing them. Simple yet brilliant! I did have to gently pry the panel up since, in addition to the screws, the panel has several clips around it's perimeter; there is a "divot" along edge to allow one to insert a tool to start the process. It wasn't difficult to remove but I was being ultra cautious because forcing anything makes me nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

Once open, I was happy to see very little dust inside (surprising considering how dusty the area I live in is); I had to look close to see it. Most of the air blowing through the CPU cooler is taken directly into the fan from underneath the notebook. Some air is also drawn over the other notebook components through other vents on the bottom of the notebook. I would have had to remove a piece of foam to actually see the fins of the CPU cooler (they are right by the blower) but I was hesitant to do so for fear of damaging it or not being able to get to stay put when I put it back so I left it alone. Instead, I put my finger on the blower impeller so it wouldn't spin freely and directed a spray of canned "air" in through the exhaust on the side of the case. Very, very little dust came out (certainly not enough to worry about) so I'm confident I got all of the little dust that was there. The rest of the exposed area need only a quick light spray from the canned "air" to take care of the amount of dust that was there. Based what I found inside, I'm guessing opening it up to clean it out twice a year would almost be overkill. At least, when I do, I know it will be easy.

Yes Lady F the Asus lappys are just the ticket too for cleaning I did one just a while ago and just one panel and it exposed everything I needed to get at - the Toshys are a bit fiddlier with needing to remove the keypad etc etc