Dell inspiron 6400 laptop. ~3 years old. Runs/starts up/shuts down fine. Always has. Core 2 Duo processor running XP. Recently, the fan has begun to run more and at a higher speed for longer (fan has 2 speeds) and even more recently while watching streaming videos on any site, they run fine for 3 to 5 mins, then start to get jumpy, then just lock up. I even wait for the video to load) Sound continues on for 30 or so seconds, then it gets jumpy as well. I open the windows task manager, and it says that the CPU is at 100%. I see that this is the problem, so I close the paticular site and after 30 or so seconds, the CPU usage drops down to 5-10% and everything is fine. All websites and programs open fine and I can have 5 or 6 windowns open, play music, and nothing skips a beat, not until I open a streaming video (not just youtube). I have windows defender and Avira running and scanning and nothing has been found, and I don't see anything odd running in the task manager window, but something is wrong. any ideas?

4/26/2010 5:40:01 PM

Since streaming elicits continuous CPU usage, you may be experiencing throttling due to heat. There are a bunch a free tools that monitor for this sort of thing. If that's the case, you probably just need to take the laptop apart and clean out all the dust.

Does this happen with all streaming video or just specific sites? Does this happen with all browsers? Do you play 3D games? If so, do you have problems with performance after a set period of time?

4/26/2010 6:26:16 PM

any streaming video causes problems, regardless of the website. and no computer games. i'll check on the dust, but i try to keep it clean,

4/26/2010 7:00:21 PM

When the video is jumpy is the fan blowing full blast?

A good way to test would be to run a Ubuntu live CD. Linux implementation of flash means no GPU acceleration - pull up a 720p video on Youtube and it will most likely ping the processor. 1080p for sure. If you survive past a minute or so I'd say something running on your box is acting screwy and it's not just a heat problem. (be sure you're plugged in during this test - Ubuntu will throttle you to save battery by default). I'm not sure about your model but some motherboard have sensors that ubuntu can read and tell you how hot it is (and what you're system is doing about it - fan RPM's, etc.)

Alternatively older Inspirons only had like 3 screws to take off the keyboard. Not bad if you're kinda tech-capable. Clean out everything you can see - usually the heat sink will be easily visible for cleaning.


Visible at the bottom of this shot... just give that sucker a cleaning with alcohol and q tipz.

Here's a solid video to get you started:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qRpz177gZ4
http://ahwee.com/how-to-disassemble-laptop-insp6400

And if you have the 50c case cracker tools (look like these http://image3.dhgate.com/upload/20102/61/ff80808124d88a430124e40112453924/productimg1265109055204.jpg) they're worth it - try Intrex computers. In a jam be freaking careful with your screwdriver or a sturdy card (like an ID or movie place - don't tear up your debit card.) And if you don't have to disconnect it don't.

4/26/2010 8:11:54 PM