Summer Is Coming! How To Keep Your Laptop Running Smoothly, Even In The Heat

Summer Is Coming – With a hot start to May across the US, many are prepping their shorts and t-shirts and planning vacations, ready to enjoy the summer heat.

While we love the heat, our electronics don’t, and when it comes to our computers and laptops, we’re not so great at getting them ready for the summer.

While components have cooling systems built-in, in the summer, with temperatures rising and no preventative measures, the heat we love can often lead to slow and unusable computers.

You don’t need to know the answer to technical questions like ‘What is a CPU?’ or ‘How do cooling systems work?’ to know how to prevent overheating. Here are our tips for beating the heat:

Clear out the dust from your case

With all those fans siphoning the air efficiently through the computer case, it’s little wonder how dust gets caught up in the case.

In a PC, cool air is brought in through a hole in the side, funneled around the hot areas of the computer insides to cool it down, and then the now-hot air is pushed out of other vents.

As air is taken in, dust, pollen, and crumbs are brought in accidentally, leading to a build-up in your laptop or computer case.

If you can easily remove your case, check for a build-up and clean it out. If not, dust can gather in the crevices in and around the computer on most laptops. Use something small and pointy (like tweezers) to extract any dust blockages.

Use a well-ventilated stand

Sitting laptops on our laps or cushions can cause the fans (ideally placed for optimal ventilation) to become blocked.

One solution to this is to use a stand designed to improve the flow of air under your laptop and, in turn, improve the speed of your laptop CPU.

Keep the fan outputs away from blockages such as walls and desks for desktop PCs.

Remove old software and startup items

We’re all guilty of software clutter on our devices. The software we haven’t used in months/years is still installed on our computers, with no chance of being opened again.

Zoom, Teams, and Skype were integral during lockdown for most families. But after installation, they trigger a process meaning each time the computer starts, it opens itself and runs stealthily in the background without you knowing.

Disable unnecessary programs from starting up when you turn your computer on and save your CPU from unnecessary work, keeping it cooler in the process.

Install Anti-virus and Anti-malware software

Most computers come with Anti-virus already installed in the form of Windows Defender. Most know they need this to protect their computers from compromise, but did you know a warm PC is a classic symptom of malicious activity?

With nefarious code running unbeknownst to the computer user, the CPU is working overtime to keep up with it all. Anti-virus and Anti-malware software can detect and prevent infection, keeping your CPU cool as a cucumber.