start/run msconfig | startup > Disable All

Reboot. First thing bring up the Task Manager and monitor the Processes tab.

System Idle Process is the inverse of CPU usage. At 1% CPU usage the System Idle Process will be 99%.

With no applications running this is what you should see.

Let it run for a bit just to see if anything changes. If not try turning things on. Say your Anti Virus first. Watch the Task Manager again for a while.

Then try IE and so on and so forth. See if you can find what application is triggering the CPU usage and or if it just spontaneously combusts at some point.

It seems to run pretty ok with everything disabled.

I've noticed problems are most usually occurring when I'm online using Explorer when after a while it will just start to gobble up all of the CPU usage. But I'm not sure whether any application I'm using for a period of time will produce the same effect...

I also downloaded Hmonitor and note that the temperature of my CPU starts out at about 46celsius but after 40-60mins is creeping up towards 75celsius so I'm not sure if the overheating is causing the problems or something else is responsible for the overheating. I guess 75 is too high?

Also the processes section in Task Manager shows 5 svchost.exe's. 2 are 'system', 2 are 'network service' and 1 is 'local service'. Possibly a virus?

I hope this might give you some pointers....thanks a lot

75c is about the upper limit and could very well be your motherboard shutting down at that point.

Most boards have a heat level shut down to protect themselves.

CPU temperature is directly related to CPU usage.

I think that this is your problem but the question is what is using the CPU?

svchost (service host) is a generic ID. 5 or 6 of these in XP is normal.


By Explorer do you mean Internet Explorer (IE) (iexplore.exe) or Windows (explorer.exe)?

Sorry, I meant iexplore.exe. But if I browse using Mozilla Firefox instead the same scenario arises so I don't think it's specific to IE itself.

Sorry if these little steps are tedious but if you use the computer without going online do you have any problems?

For example run some programs; play some games (if you have any); view your Pictures; videos; Word (if you have it); etc.

Just wondering if being online is the source of the CPU usage.

Also what is your Firewall? and also Anti Virus?

No it's not tedious at all, I'm just more than grateful that you're trying to help me figure this out.

Yes, I was wondering whether it was related to being online but it doesn't appear to be the case. I put on a couple of games and after a while they were maxing out the CPU usage.

In addition I opened up Word and went into a blank document. Just by holding down a key for a minute or so I could watch the CPU usage for winword jump up to the top and also the temperature of the machine climbing up to 75celsius....

I was using Norton up until recently but it was a little out of date and I deleted it to see if that was the source of my problems but doesn't look like it is unfortunately. I'm now just using the free AVG software.

It seems that using any application for a period of time causes CPU usage and temperature to soar. As soon as I go offline or quit the application I can watch the temperature etc gradually begin to drop...

Any chance wiping and reformatting everything would fix this? (would rather avoid this if possible). Seems like buying an extra fan or cooler would be treating a symptom rather than the actual problem, although I'm happy to try.

This laptop was working OK until recently?

Is there any difference when using the battery as opposed to the AC adapter? Or visa-versa?

How much RAM do you have?

How much free space on your hard drive?


Also check your Page File Size:

Right click My Computer then click Properties

Advanced > Performance > Settings > Advanced > Virtual memory > Change

Is this set to System Manage Size? If not try that setting.

Yes it was all running fine up until about 4-6 weeks ago.

No difference between running it off the battery or mains, although I will almost always be using it from the mains.

RAM is 512MB.

Hard disk capacity is 18.5GB and there is 4.6GB free.

I have changed that Virtual memory setting as it was set to something different but the machine is still getting too hot.

I started to take a look around online to see if I could find anything about this problem with my model of laptop. I found a whole bunch of stuff about overheating so it looks like it may be some kind of design fault.

"***OVERHEATING EXPLAINED***"

Dell's I51xx series ships with a woefully inadequate amount of thermal grease between the CPU and the heatsink. There is *no* design flaw in the heatsink! It simply doesn't mate properly with the CPU to allow the fan to draw heat away from it. Dell is aware of this, but still insists on sending technicians out with a new (exact same design) heatsink to "fix" the problem. Of course, the new heatsink is delivered with the same unacceptable low amount of thermal grease. You can blow the dust out all you want, but that's not the core problem. Remove the bezel that covers the screen hinges with a flat screwdriver, four screws release the keyboard, and four more release the heatsink. Squirt an amount of thermal grease about the size of a US dime onto the CPU and replace the parts. Problem solved. Also, don't use the BIOS upgrade that supposedly fixes the loud fan issue. All it does is make the system run hotter before the fan kinks in! That's Dell's quickfix for the problem, and obviously is not the best solution.

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/...0003105,00.htm

There are a bunch of user reviews on that site all talking about the same problem. Any thoughts on this? Sounds like I should maybe just be grateful that my version of this machine functioned well for 2 years.


In fact, just found a website dedicated to this problem

http://www.geocities.com/i5100dustproblem/

Thanks for the info and links. Good to see people working to address this issue.

Please let us know how it goes on for you and if we can help further.

Cleaning and changing the thermal grease might be a good idea.

If you need any assistance with this let us know.


This is the cleaner and thermal grease that I use (just for example):

ArctiClean Instructions

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arcticlean_instructions.htm

Application Instructions for Premium Silver Thermal Compound

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm




.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions with regard to my problems.

As an update, I have so far just blown into the fan at the back of my laptop (I don't have compressed air as recommended) and this resulted in a large amount of dust blowing out everywhere! My machine now seems to be consistently running at about 45celsius as opposed to high 60s-70s and CPU usage is greatly reduced! Certainly never thought blowing into the fan could potentially fix my problems...

I think long term I may need to remove and clean the heatsink but I will see how I go for now. I hope this info is also of benefit to some others who maybe have problems with this laptop model.