# laptop



## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

Have a Toshiba Laptop and this is the 3rd hardrive that must be replaced. Hasving to send the hard drive off for another replacement. Yes its still under no charge for replacement. This particular models problem is that it heats up too much so I will have use a cooler when I get the replacement. I have a few new shooters I made but wont be able to show boat them. Im using a mini right now and everthing is a bit small.


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## e~shot (Jun 3, 2010)

Usually laptop gets heated up specially when using on bed or keep on pillow. good idea to use a cooler.


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

Having worked in IT & Hardware support for the last 15 years or so, I see this problem a lot.

Spot on with the cooler! They are a great idea and work wonders for keeping them cool.

A few other things you can do to keep things cool:


*De fragment your hard drive often*. I recommend daily. If done daily, it will generally only take 1-2 minutes each run. First defrag may take hours if it hasn't been done in a while.
This will help by eliminating a lot of unnecessary head movements of the drive. It will also improve performance on disk based operations.
*Make sure your system has adequate memory*. If you start running low on memory the operating system will start using virtual memory on the drive, often causing a 100% duty cycle on the drive. This is bad mmmk.
*Keep all vents and fans as clean as possible*. Even small amounts of dust can dramatically reduce the efficiency of a laptops cooling system. I take the shell of my laptops at lease once every 6 months and ensure that all internal airways are clean and free of dust as well (not recommended for the non tech savvy).
*Put your HDD to sleep*. If the machine is left running for long periods of time without use (mine run 24/7), set power management to power down the HDD after say 5-10 minutes. It only takes 2-3 seconds to spin up again when needed.


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

dgui said:


> Have a Toshiba Laptop and this is the 3rd hardrive that must be replaced. Hasving to send the hard drive off for another replacement. Yes its still under no charge for replacement. This particular models problem is that it heats up too much so I will have use a cooler when I get the replacement. I have a few new shooters I made but wont be able to show boat them. Im using a mini right now and everthing is a bit small.


Oh, *that *explains your incredible shrinking slingshots.


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## Sam (Jul 5, 2010)

Hrawk said:


> Having worked in IT & Hardware support for the last 15 years or so, I see this problem a lot.
> 
> Spot on with the cooler! They are a great idea and work wonders for keeping them cool.
> 
> ...


Personally I think dragging everyday is a little OTT, once every fortnight is ample for most users. I would however recommend running a 'Quick Scan' of your HDD every day and a full scan every week. Very true about the memory though, if your system was purchased when Vista was popular this could well be a problem.

To check simply press *Ctrl* +* Shift*+ *Esc* to open _Task Manager_ then see how much of your RAM you're using under the _Performance_ tab; if you find yourself regularly using Page File, or Virtual Memory, some more RAM could provide a massive speed boost to your system.
_*PS:* Hibernate is your friend!_


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

Sam said:


> Personally I think dragging everyday is a little OTT


Mine kicks in at 3am, so I never really notice. Plus I use a SSD for my OS, so full defrag takes around 10-15 seconds










I do agree though that daily might be a little over the top for most users. I have had sooooo many people tell me over the years they never defrag because it takes to long. Grrrrrr. That's understandable when you only do it once every 2 years









Also, I do not use the included defrag program that ships with windows. I use Diskeeper Pro which IMHO is vastly superior, optimising file locations on the disk as well as defragging.


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## Sam (Jul 5, 2010)

Hrawk said:


> Personally I think dragging everyday is a little OTT


Mine kicks in at 3am, so I never really notice. Plus I use a SSD for my OS, so full defrag takes around 10-15 seconds









I do agree though that daily might be a little over the top for most users. I have had sooooo many people tell me over the years they never defrag because it takes to long. Grrrrrr. That's understandable when you only do it once every 2 years









Also, I do not use the included defrag program that ships with windows. I use Diskeeper Pro which IMHO is vastly superior, optimising file locations on the disk as well as defragging.
[/quote]

Aye, unfortunately most of Microsoft's peripheral software is nothing more than bloat-ware, although I'm currently using Window 7's Defragmenter and it isn't bad at all. _Defraggler_ is a brilliant alternative and doesn't cost a cent.

_*PS:* Why on earth would you defrag an SSD? That will break an Kingston or Intel SSD..._


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

Sam said:


> _*PS:* Why on earth would you defrag an SSD? That will break an Kingston or Intel SSD..._


Old habits die hard I guess. You're right though, no need at all really on a SSD.

I think subconsciously I want it to die so I can justify buying a bigger one, running a 30GB OCZ right now.


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## Sam (Jul 5, 2010)

Hrawk said:


> _*PS:* Why on earth would you defrag an SSD? That will break an Kingston or Intel SSD..._


Old habits die hard I guess. You're right though, no need at all really on a SSD.

I think subconsciously I want it to die so I can justify buying a bigger one, running a 30GB OCZ right now.
[/quote]

lol







Which of their line do you have? OCZ definitely have the best SSDs on the market ATM and have for quite some time, I personally won't touch them until they're less than £0.50 per GB, 'till then it's Raid 0 for me!


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

Sam said:


> lol
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's a Vertex. I bought it to replace my ageing 32GB WD Raptor (first version) when I jumped up to Win7 RC.


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## Sam (Jul 5, 2010)

Hrawk said:


> lol
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's a Vertex. I bought it to replace my ageing 32GB WD Raptor (first version) when I jumped up to Win7 RC.

[/quote]

Ah good ol' Raptors, I remember back when they seemed fast!







What kind of boot times are you getting from your Vertex?


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

Boot times? Lol, that would imply I actually turn my computer off








About 35-40 seconds from power switch to logon. I've never really timed it though.


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