System Re-boots while running Spybot

[vioravis]

Hello friends,

I have a Compaq Presario 2581 US Laptop (Windows XP) that is 2.5 years old. In the past couple of months, my laptop has been re-booting itself without any warning. Last two days, I have been trying to run Spybot and other anti-virus/spyware but the laptop shutsdown after 10 minutes.

I have noticed that my laptop gets heated quickly? I installed NHC today to monitor the temperature. The HD temp was around 50 C and CPU temp was around 61 C. When I started running Spybot the CPU temp increased to 74 C before shutting down? I also observed that the fan speed was 0 and not sure how to check the fan?

Can you guys help me with suggestions? Thank you.

[bitman]

Though the NHC program may just not be reading the fan correctly, that should be obvious, since most laptop fans are quite noisy at higher speeds. Can you hear the fan speed up or is it totally silent?

You might try using a vacuum to clean out the area around the fan vents. If it's only dust that's keeping the fan from turning this could fix it. However, if the fan is really dead, you will have to contact HP/Compaq for repair options. I'd suggest a local HP certified repair shop unless you're still in warranty, since replacing a fan is relatively simple. Shipping to depot repair is typically a one week turnaround at best (I 've done this myself).

Your problem is really becoming quite common, though usually it's simply dust causing the cooling not to work efficiently, not a completely dead fan.