Overheating eMachines E725

You're welcome.

You will be just fine. Also recommending, when you remove the old, baked-on, thermal paste, just use a dry tissue/paper towel to break off to remove that stuff. Avoid using sharp metal objects to chip away at it as you will most likely damage the processor, and create undesired scratches/grooves into the matting suface of the heat sink. Avoid harsh chemicals or water in any way if at all possible. A little bit of rubbing alcohol to the heatsink matting surface isn't a bad thing, if the installer went crazy when applying the original thermal paste.

When you apply the new thermal paste, I like to use about a pea sized amount on the top of the processor (no more you don't need to go crazy with it), then I carefully spread as much as I can with the tip of the thermal paste tube to ensure enough of the paste is evenly dispersed across the matting surface between the top of the processor and the matting surface of the heat sink itself. Again, just be patient, and no need to go crazy with the amount of paste you're using before you screw the heatsink back down onto the motherboard/mainboard.

A can of compressed clean air helps, but isn't required. Many times when I work on family/friends computers, I'll blow on pieces when I have them out of the laptop case, then wipe clean with a tissue, maybe a dab of clean water. It's a great confidence builder to be able to work on these types of machines, has even helped me to fix mobile phones (proximity sensors, reflowing solder on wifi chips that have overheated, etc...) just by feeling better in my ability to take things like this apart.

Glad I could help encourage you to try this, rather than bringing it to someone who will end up charging you some serious money (probably more than what the computer is worth). I still use my Acer 5532 till this day, upgraded a few bits like a faster dual core processor (has an AMD chipset, upgraded to the TL-66, I believe the E725 has an intel chipset), more RAM (8gb), and a SSD, and running on Windows 10, aside from not being able to find decent batteries for these machines anymore, and a max runtime of 1 hour on battery, I still really enjoy using it!

All comments

you can use a can of air spray to blow some air inside the vents
maybe it's time to re-install/reset your OS

Is it possible to re-install and keep the disk content?
How do I reset?

i strongly suggest you to backup your personal data and re-install the OS from scratch.

if you have windows 7, refresh is not available.

Thanks for animering. I run W Vista Home Prenium. Is refreshing an option?

no and be aware that Vista is probably the worst OS Microsoft did.

Is upgrading the best solution? If so, to which OS?

Windows 7 can be a good solution, maybe windows 10 too but i don't know if your hardware is suppprted by windows 10.

I don't recommend blowing air back into a laptop case, because often times, severly clogged up machines will not get all of the dust out, and as soon as you turn the laptop on again, layers of dust/lint will get blown back into the heatsink fins and the machine will remain clogged.

So if you have the skills to open the laptop case, it is always best to remove the heatsink from the processer, and clean it well when it is out of the computer. Older machines that have been overheating will have most likely "baked" the thermal paste that sits between the top of the processor and the mating surface of the heatsink. Wiping off the "baked" paste and applying new thermal paste (no more than the size of a small bb/ball bearing), I recommend tuniq tx-2, and reinstalling. You will notice a huge difference and your machine's ability to significantly disipate heat quicker.

Windows 10 pretty much supports all commerically sold laptop and destop computers that were new enough to come with at least a 64bit processor. After you backup all important files, I would recommend downloading the Windows 10 installation file from the Microsoft website, and install without a license. See how the setup goes on your machine, when you look at the device manager, if nothing is showing errors, you know for sure that Windows 10 is fully supported. I've seen Windows 10 Home, and Windows 10 Professional license/activation keys going for as low as $20, and upwards to $60. Be careful who who purchase keys from, some third party sites may try to sell you a used key, that Microsoft will deem as invalid and will not authenticate.

If none of that works, you can always get Windows 7 really cheap these days, and there are some decent sellers you can pick up Win 7 64 bit for under $40.

Last if you need help pulling apart your laptop, take a look on youtube, I'm sure someone has a video tutorial on a complete teardown of your specific laptop somewhere. Might seem a little overwhelming at first, but is actually really fun to learn.

Thanks a lot for the advices.

Yes, taking the laptop apart seems overwhelming. I looked for videos on youtube for my eMachines xp-510 laptop, but didn't find any for the exact model (no eMachines at all), though. As I know this type is an Acer product, I also looked for any similar looking Acer product. But didn't find any this way either.

By joining a video for another type laptop, I could pick up the principles, though. So maybe I one day will make an attempt to try your solution.

If you know a link to a video solution for my,type, please tell me.

Your advice to choose Win 10 seems reasonable, but the overheating issue has to be solved first, of course.

Sorry for the mismatch about laptop model. It's, of course, still E 725.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeN5-_c7ZzE

The emachines E725 is the same as the acer 5532 and 5517 case.

Watch that video, it will show you everything you need to know regarding disassembly. Again, may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but as long as you take your time, you really can't mess anything in the computer up that bad. Just be mindful of how things come out, such as, before you remove the RAM chips, look closely at how they set in the socket, and take note of how they release. The wifi card, as well as screws and where they go too. Just refer back to the video if you need to. It makes it a heck of a lot easier putting things back together and knowing that everything is connected properly.

I once didn't have RAM properly set in the motherboard with one of the first laptops I ever took apart. It wouldn't start, and I thought I fried the mainboard. Took me a few days before I ever figured out what I did wrong.

I have almost no doubt that if you clean out the dust that is clogged in your computer by disassembly, you will be able to enjoy your computer for many more years to come. Sometimes trying to blow the dust back through the fan works, but most of the time, I have found some of it gets sucked right back in, and you are in the same place you were a month later.

Good luck!

Thanks a lot!

I've found a video about assembling, so noe I just have to collct courage to start the operation.

And I'm right now bying the compound tuniq t-2.

You're welcome.

You will be just fine. Also recommending, when you remove the old, baked-on, thermal paste, just use a dry tissue/paper towel to break off to remove that stuff. Avoid using sharp metal objects to chip away at it as you will most likely damage the processor, and create undesired scratches/grooves into the matting suface of the heat sink. Avoid harsh chemicals or water in any way if at all possible. A little bit of rubbing alcohol to the heatsink matting surface isn't a bad thing, if the installer went crazy when applying the original thermal paste.

When you apply the new thermal paste, I like to use about a pea sized amount on the top of the processor (no more you don't need to go crazy with it), then I carefully spread as much as I can with the tip of the thermal paste tube to ensure enough of the paste is evenly dispersed across the matting surface between the top of the processor and the matting surface of the heat sink itself. Again, just be patient, and no need to go crazy with the amount of paste you're using before you screw the heatsink back down onto the motherboard/mainboard.

A can of compressed clean air helps, but isn't required. Many times when I work on family/friends computers, I'll blow on pieces when I have them out of the laptop case, then wipe clean with a tissue, maybe a dab of clean water. It's a great confidence builder to be able to work on these types of machines, has even helped me to fix mobile phones (proximity sensors, reflowing solder on wifi chips that have overheated, etc...) just by feeling better in my ability to take things like this apart.

Glad I could help encourage you to try this, rather than bringing it to someone who will end up charging you some serious money (probably more than what the computer is worth). I still use my Acer 5532 till this day, upgraded a few bits like a faster dual core processor (has an AMD chipset, upgraded to the TL-66, I believe the E725 has an intel chipset), more RAM (8gb), and a SSD, and running on Windows 10, aside from not being able to find decent batteries for these machines anymore, and a max runtime of 1 hour on battery, I still really enjoy using it!