Re: OT: laptop hd temps running hot

Google, download and install i8fangui. It was written originally for the
hot-hot-hot running Inspiron 8000 and 8100, but it works with most (all?) Dell
laptops I have run it on. It monitors CPU and HDD termperatures and it has
controls to start the CPU and second cooling fan when the CPU temperature
reaches pre-defined levels. There is no cooling fan for a laptop HDD, but you
are better off knowing its temperature.

There is also a program called Notebook Hardware Control (NHC), which I recently
downloaded but have not yet tried. NHC has both Dell and non-Dell versions.

i8fangui is installed on nearly every Inspiron 5100-series I have ever touched.
These are also hot running systems, and running the cooling fan makes noise
while keeping the CPU at a comfortable temperature. Several of my clients have
5100-5150-5160 systems that keep on running, whereas a lot of these systems
simply burned out, causing a successful class action lawsuit against Dell.

.... Ben Myers

On Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:36:55 -0500, Journey <> wrote:

>On Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:58:11 -0500, RnR <> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:41:01 -0500, Journey <> wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:20:17 -0500, RnR <> wrote:
>>>
>>>>I was running some avg file in my virtual pc while surfing the net on
>>>>the host pc and noticed temps running up to 129 F but after the avg
>>>>stopped scanning and closing down the virtual pc, temps backed down
>>>>now to 127 F. Either way, never saw this temp ever on any laptop pc
>>>>tho this is the first seagate 7200 rpm I owned. Specs tell me that
>>>>operating temp is good to 140 F so I'm not worried yet and some hd
>>>>diags say drive is 100% healthy as well as SMART diags too. If it
>>>>matters the drive is a Seagate ST9160823AS 160gig drive and fairly
>>>>new. Laptop is a duo2core processor running xp media ctr.. Laptop
>>>>drive is still silent in operation even at 129 F.
>>>>
>>>>Anyone ever see their drives run this hot in the laptops? When I was
>>>>looking for seagate specs I saw a toshiba spec??? say 130 F. Now
>>>>just before I end this post I see my hd temp drop again now to 124 F.
>>>>Normally I see it run around 111 F or less. This is the first time
>>>>I've seen it go well above 111 F since I've owned it (about 1 month)
>>>>tho I've never used Virtual pc either till yesterday (if that
>>>>matters).
>>>
>>>Have you been running Virtual PC much in the past? I think the load
>>>is probably due to that esp. if you were also doing anything else disk
>>>intensive.
>>
>>Before yesterday, never ran any virtual software and right now I'm not
>>running any and the hd is at 95 F. I expect it to go to 111 or so but
>>it takes about 1/2 hr or so to reach that. I think other than earlier
>>today when I was multitasking with the virtual pc, it runs a bit less
>>in temp than the old 5400 drive it replaced and that ran at about 116F
>>or so (no virtual stuff) under normal loads.
>
>You know a lot more about how to take the temps than I do. I run
>Virtual XP (VMWare) on my Mac all the time multitasking and it is
>never stressed, but OSX is 64 bit, effcient, and I have 4GB of RAM.
>
>When I run stuff virtually on my Windows PCs I'll know more about
>whether it stresses the PC more or not.
>
>In general, my 7200rpm drives have never seemed to cause heat
>problems. What laptop are you running it in? I've used 7200rpms in
>the Inspiron 1405/630m, and Latitude D520. Battery life has always
>been good with 7200rpm drives too. I think they have to work less
>long to get things done?

Hi!

> There is also a program called Notebook Hardware Control (NHC), which
> I recently downloaded but have not yet tried. NHC has both Dell
> and non-Dell versions.

Have you tried it yet?

I downloaded a copy of the personal edition (seemingly there are also more
capable editions that cost $) and installed it on my Latitude D800. (The
..NET Framework is a requirement, so if you don't have it, you will need to
get it.) NHC can access temperatures and control the speed of the CPU. It
was also able to do something that I've wanted to do for a long time--it can
access and report on the health of the battery.

(My three year old batteries (two primary units) are holding up well, with
only an 18% drop in capacity reported, by the way. I'm impressed.)

For simple temperature reporting, I still prefer i8kfangui or SpeedFan
(which has a 'Dell Notebook' mode).

William

I haven't tried NHC yet. I have an Inspiron 5150 in rehab here, and I'll try
NHC on it this week. I'm more interested in NHC for non-Dell computers, because
quite a few other manufacturers (e.g. Toshiba) went through the same phase as
Dell did with the Inspiron 51xx-series, luggable laptops that you would rather
leave at home without a mobile Pentium 4. The non-mobile Pentium 4 sucks a lot
of wattage, especially for a notebook. There is no standard in the industry
for notebook termp and fan sensors, so it's almost impossible for one program to
work with all brands of laptops. i8fangui sure does not. It is very specific
to the Dell (or Dell contract manufacturer) hardware implementation of sensors.
And then you have some junk models of laptops with no sensors at all, like
driving your car without a dashboard and with the windshield painted over.

.... Ben Myers

On Sun, 06 Apr 2008 06:12:43 GMT, "William R. Walsh"
< m> wrote:

>Hi!
>
>> There is also a program called Notebook Hardware Control (NHC), which
>> I recently downloaded but have not yet tried. NHC has both Dell
>> and non-Dell versions.
>
>Have you tried it yet?
>
>I downloaded a copy of the personal edition (seemingly there are also more
>capable editions that cost $) and installed it on my Latitude D800. (The
>.NET Framework is a requirement, so if you don't have it, you will need to
>get it.) NHC can access temperatures and control the speed of the CPU. It
>was also able to do something that I've wanted to do for a long time--it can
>access and report on the health of the battery.
>
>(My three year old batteries (two primary units) are holding up well, with
>only an 18% drop in capacity reported, by the way. I'm impressed.)
>
>For simple temperature reporting, I still prefer i8kfangui or SpeedFan
>(which has a 'Dell Notebook' mode).
>
>William
>