Computer Running Hot when Idle

YeaYea · 12 Feb 2012

The fan sounds like a jet engine prepping for takeoff when the computer was sitting idle. So I downloaded Core Temp and it is telling me that the TJ max is 85C and my computer is running at 78-83C at that was when there was nothing going on.
My question is what is going on that is making it run that hot? Also, what should I do to stop it?

Some background: The hard drive is failing on this computer. I just reformatted and re-installed windows to factory settings, so I dont think there would be any viruses, malware, etc. But I am curious why it is running so hot. And now Im seeing the CPU cores are showing usage at 90-100%. All I have open is Firefox, Core Temp, Task managner.

This computer is an HP TouchSmart all in one with Vista Premium. (I know this is Win 7 forums. My other one has 7.) CPU is below, GeForce 9300M GS, hard drive is 500GB ST3500620AS.

dreamer · 12 Feb 2012

These temperatures are way too hot for comfort.Prolonged use of computer at these temperatures will fry your MB.
First of all check your fan and heatsink for accumulated dust and clean them thoroughly.Open Task Manager-Performance Tab and select Resource Monitor.Check which programs are using most of the CPU.Post a screenshot of your Resource Monitor showing CPU usage.

ignatzatsonic · 12 Feb 2012

I think a Touchsmart is one of those things where the monitor and case are in one unit that contains the hard drive, CPU, etc. Only the mouse and keyboard are separate?

In case CoreTemp is wrong, I would download another program such as Realtemp or HWInfo to evaluate temps.

Open Task Manager and look at the CPU and Processes tabs. Rank them in descending order. Post a picture of what you see.

Be sure to choose "show processes from all users".

How many processes total?

Confirm with your eyes if possible that any fans are actually spinning.

YeaYea · 12 Feb 2012

I haven't opened it up yet, but here is some screen shots from Resource monitor and Task Manager (they are from a few seconds later so they might not show the same info mentioned below).

After the first post, the computer went to sleep and when I woke it up the temps started at 35C then went up to 60C. I restarted it for some updates and as soon as I could get the Core Temp app open, the temps were around 80C & cpu at 100%. I attached the screen shots. From what I could tell of the processes running, the system was just running updates. Probably because I reinstalled Vista. It still seems like it should not be getting to 80C, but I'm not an expert.

Also, I downloaded Speedfan 4.45 and it is reading the same temps and tells me the fan is at 3000 rpm. The idle temp is 60-65c now and that seems high from what I have read.

Thoughts? & thanks for the replies

" I think a Touchsmart is one of those things where the monitor and case are in one unit that contains the hard drive, CPU, etc. Only the mouse and keyboard are separate?"

Yes, that is correct.

ignatzatsonic · 13 Feb 2012

Have recently placed a Windows 7 Professional x86, test machine on network, built and configured by my son. Windows update - CodeInSpot

System response very sluggish, hard drive thrashing

It's obviously related to .NET Runtime Optimization and mscorsvw.exe *32 hogging the CPU.

I did a bit of googling and the above two links were all I found that might be pertinent.