Aspire V5-552PG-x469

I'm am not by any means a computer person. So I cannot understand what might be happening. All I know is that I got this laptop. A few years ago (probably about 5) and that within the last couple years it's been overheating quickly while doing nothing (games don't even run on it anymore). And recently (the last couple months) it doesn't connect to my wifi easily, if at all. I've checked for viruses and there are none. I've deleted unnecessary programs. I've deleted all games I had on it (they don't work anyway. Why bother?). I need the Internet, though because I use it for school. But I keep getting "Can't connect to this network". With any network I try. Does anybody have a clue what's going on?

Accepted answers

All comments

JackE

How do you know that it's overheating? Jack E/NJ

Squii123

Well.. It gets incredibly hot right above the keyboard. I mean hot enough that it actually is too hot to touch. And it's shut off a couple times because of this.

JackE

OK. First try to vacuum the air intake port to try to remove any dustballs that may be reducing cooling capacity. If the vacuum has a blower attachment, it would also help to blow into the air exhaust port to dislodge any debris inside. Jack E/NJ

Squii123

I had my dad clean out the dust. He said there wasn't a lot of dust in it. I'm on it now, it's still getting fairly hot. I have it on a small laptop desk that cools it (or should). It's still getting hot. I can't play any games on it. The internet runs, but it sounds like it's taking a lot to even do that.

JackE

OK. Can you hear a fan running at any time? Jack E/NJ

Squii123

Usually, yes. Sometimes it sounds like it's working harder. I can hear it like it's trying to force itself to work properly. And that's just using the internet to do research for school.

JackE

The CPU fan may be failing or clogged. Did your Dad inspect the fan & CPU? At any rate, do a full power shut off. Let the hardware cool down for an hour or so before turning it back on. Before it has a chance to heat up, can you immediately play a demanding game longer than usual before it shuts down? Jack E/NJ

Squii123

I don't leave it constantly running. I turn it off or put it in hibernation every night. I use it for maybe two hours in the morning and turn it off or in hibernation. And then use it again 2-4 hours before bed. We didn't check the fan or CPU, but I'll have him look at it tonight.

JackE

What I'm trying to get at is 'Do you notice any difference in playing time for a demanding game when it's first booted up and cooler vs when it's been running a while and hotter?' Jack E/NJ

Squii123

No difference between whether it's been on for a while or just booted up. I boot up and log in and it's already whirring like it can't handle it. I can no longer play any games due to overheating and problems with graphics. Even on lowest graphics settings everything runs slow.

However none of this goes into the internet problem. When I load up after it's been turned off or in hibernation, it isn't connected. And when I try to connect I get "Cannot connect to this network". Resetting the router doesn't work and isn't necessary (as it's ONLY my laptop that's a problem). And it doesn't connect to any networks, which tells me it's the computer.

JackE

I suggest that you Google "McAfee" "Stinger" but without the quotes. Download the latest freeware standalone Stinger rootkit & malware scanner. It's one of the best that's updated every week or so when you run it. Run a full Stinger scan on your hard drive ASAP. It's probably better not to have other scanners running at the same time. A full scan could take several hours depending on how much info is on your hard drive. Stinger can often auto delete or inactivate threats but will alert you one way or another if it finds any suspicious files. Jack E/NJ

Squii123

Did a full scan. Nothing came up. No viruses, no malware. Still getting as hot a normal and still can't run any games. And I'm still having a problem with the internet.

JackE

OK. One more thing to check out before having your Dad check the CPU fan for dust and possible replacement. In the start menu, Run "taskmgr.exe" without the quotes. If you can't find Run, then press CTRL-ALT-DEL keys all at one time, then click on taskmgr. In the box the pops up, click on the PERFORMANCE menuitem. Watch the CPU usage for about a half hour or so ***without doing anything else on the computer***. It should be jumping around in the 10% or less range with an occasional burst to around 50%. What are you actually seeing? Jack E/NJ

Squii123

It hovers mostly around the 9-11 range. Sometimes jumping into 20-60 range. And a couple times I saw it jump to 70-80 range. I kept an eye on it as I started running other things, too. It would jump to the 70-80 range when I loaded up Chrome and then goes to normal. When I hear the fan running harder (I can always hear it, but once in a while it kicks on like it's trying harder), and it jumps to the 50-70 range. Even when doing nothing else. When I DO start doing something else, it spikes. Upwards of 80-90. And it's hit 100 a couple times. And that's just by opening Chrome or Word.

JackE

Overall it seems too high. Now click on the Processes tab in taskmgr. Then near the bottom click on show all processes. Try to identify processes that seem to be consistently consuming a big percentage of CPU time EXCEPT SYSTEM IDLE. System idle should be showing about 90% or more when you're doing nothing. Short transient spikes on starting Chrome etc don't mean much unless they persist. Jack E/NJ

Squii123

Thanks for your help, but I'm just going to get a new laptop. This one just isn't working right. The internet gives me trouble still (won't connect when it turns on) and now it won't charge if it's on. It's becoming more trouble than it's worth.

JackE

As long as you've decided this, you might as well try a full reset to a factory-fresh state. Nothing to lose at this point. If the machine originally came with Win8.1---not Win8.0---or Win10, please follow one of these two videos to see if it resolves the issues.