CPU usage high and loud fan

[lruggier]

My CPU usage has always made noise every once and a while when it gets high when doing virus scans and stuff. but lately, i dont know if my laptop is dying or something is wrong because it seems to be that almost all day my fan and CPU are high! Even if I do not have a lot of programs open and its just one internet tab and a few word documents it can get really loud and the CPU usage goes up to 100% for a couple minutes.

When the CPU usage gets high randomly when I am not using many programs and am just in class taking notes with a few internet tabs open and word documents the programs using the most CPU rotate between:

MsMpEng.exe, Sndappv2.exe, dmw.exe, and svchost.exe

Is my computer dying or is this normal?

I do not know how to check when it does virus scans...my ex boyfriend used to do it for me and it set it so it did it at a random time when I was not in class so it wouldnt be working hard and loud in the middle of lecture, but i do not know how to get back to where those settings were to make sure its still at the time from before and i did not accidentally change it to some other time which is why its loud during my classes. BUT i feel like no matter what my fan is ALWAYS loud now. I try to prop it up with a book under it except on the part of the fan so it doesnt overheat, but this doesnt seem to help much and it is still loud.

I got this laptop in January 2011 and bought it new. its a Toshiba Protege R705. I love it since its only 3 pounds but the fan seems to make SOOOOOOOO much noise, and before i dealt with it since it wanst all the time, but now it seems to be way too frequent and I am not sure why it is doing this.

Please help :)

[Marshall Veteran]

Does the laptop feel hot to the touch when the fan is spinning up at a high rate?

Also, concerning your AV, we need to know which one you're using in order to guide you in the right direction of setting it up properly.

[YounGMessiah]

Do you clean this laptop with canned air?

Sounds like you hyper-spun your fan and needs to be replaced.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

i dont know if my laptop is dying or something is wrong because it seems to be that almost all day my fan and CPU are high!

I got this laptop in January 2011

Please help :)

HI, there!

Your laptop isn't dying, you can relax :)

The noise is probably a result of the dust it has collected since 2011 preventing its cooling system from functioning properly.

You can try to vaccuum clean the area where the fan is or take it to a computer repair store for cleaning. Don't pay more than 20 bucks :)

[lruggier]

Does the laptop feel hot to the touch when the fan is spinning up at a high rate?

Also, concerning your AV, we need to know which one you're using in order to guide you in the right direction of setting it up properly.

I just cleaned it with compressed air and some dust came out, i havent cleaned it since probably November 2012.

Yes it does feel hot when i touch it!

and what is AV?

Do you clean this laptop with canned air?

Sounds like you hyper-spun your fan and needs to be replaced.

I just cleaned it, but i used to clean it regularly, last time i cleaned it before today though was probably November 2012.

How did i hyper-spin my fan? by not cleaning it all the time? how much is a laptop fan to replace?

[Marshall Veteran]

I just cleaned it with compressed air and some dust came out, i havent cleaned it since probably November 2012.

Yes it does feel hot when i touch it!

and what is AV?

Anti-Virus

Also, the process you listed "Sndappv2.exe" is from a program called Sendori which supposedly protects you from browser hijacks, malware and misdirects. As long as your operating system and browser are up to date and you use a reputable AV, I would uninstall Sendori via the Control Panel.

Edit: I agree with zhiVago, use a vacuum cleaner and suck those dust bunnies out. :)

[YounGMessiah]

How did i hyper-spin my fan? by not cleaning it all the time? how much is a laptop fan to replace?

Well from the rest of what you said, it seems you DIDNT hyper-spin, but typically this happens when someone spins the fan faster than designated and eventually wears out the bearings.

It does sound like dust, but you said you cleaned it.

I would suggest looking up some video and take apart your laptop carefully; this will determine the real issue with your fan.

Those sounds arent normal, but do check your processes.

For future reference when cleaning fans, like in your laptop for example, you must use something skinny like a paper clip (stretch it out) and gentle stick it in where you blow the air. Dont mind if you are sticking it through the heat sink, just do it carefully and with barely any force; this is to ensure you do NOT spin the fan while you are blowing air into it! This prolongs your fans life by a lot and most people dont do it.

Free AV suggestions:

I suggest Microsoft Security Essentials

Others will say Avast

I also suggest BitDefender Free AV

[Mockingbird]

Please post screenshot of your task manager. Make sure you are on the "processes" tab and that task manager is maximize.

You should remove Sendori: it's classify as a malware.

I also recommend that you change antivirus occasionally. Avast Free is pretty good.

In addition, I suggest that you let Malwarebytes scan your computer.

[lruggier]

So i just noticed that when its gets hot sometimes and the CPU usage is really high, the fan isnt always hot but the battery is SUPER hot. What does this mean? I need to keep an eye on it more, but im pretty sure the battery is the main part that gets really hot and not necessarily the fan.

[lruggier]

Please post screenshot of your task manager. Make sure you are on the "processes" tab and that task manager is maximize. You should remove Sendori: it's classify as a malware. I also recommend that you change antivirus occasionally. Avast Free is pretty good. In addition, I suggest that you let Malwarebytes scan your computer.

I will post a screenshot of my taskmanager once the CPU gets really high again.

and if Sndappv2.exe" aka Sendori is a malware, how did it get on my computer? I definitey did not install it!

Are you SURE im supposed to uninstall it? I dont want to hurt my laptop!

Also, i have no clue how to change my antivirus, and i do not want to mess anything up and end up not having an antivirus at all! I will probably ask my Dad about all this once I get home from school, since he would know how to do that. but i dont think he knows anything about Sendori and that stuff, he wouldnt be any help so thats why I am asking you guys.

I will post a screenshot later of my task manager when the CPU gets really high. How do i attach a picture when I am quoting someone? I do not see the attach button option

Please post screenshot of your task manager. Make sure you are on the "processes" tab and that task manager is maximize.

You should remove Sendori: it's classify as a malware.

I also recommend that you change antivirus occasionally. Avast Free is pretty good.

In addition, I suggest that you let Malwarebytes scan your computer.

[Andre S. Veteran]

MsMpEng.exe is Microsoft Security Essentials. This is a decent antivirus; you don't need any other AV software.

Sndappv2.exe is Sendori which is legitimate software, but you probably don't need it. I suggest uninstalling it.

dwm.exe is the Desktop Window Manager, it's an essential part of Windows.

svchost.exe is a Service Host, it's just a wrapper for some service running underneath. Run msconfig to see if there are any unwanted non-Microsoft services starting with your computer. These could contribute to unecessary CPU usage and slowdown of your other programs.

That the CPU gets used to 100% or that the fans spin up is not dangerous to your computer. What could be dangerous is if the cooling is insufficient and parts start to overheat. It's possible your laptop has been gathering dust inside, reducing airflow and thus the effectiveness of the fans. This can be remedied by cleaning the air vents with a vacuum cleaner, if they are obstructed. To perform more thorough cleaning you'll have to open the case, which you might want to leave to a professional technician if you're not comfortable doing that.

As for your anti-virus running all the time, this can be configured by simply opening the program (Microsoft Security Essentials or Windows Defender, it has a different name in different versions of Windows) and navigating to its configuration options. There's no point running an anti-virus scan every day, and you can schedule it to run at night so it doesn't bother you while you're doing work.

[Hum]

Do you have the max. RAM that you can have installed on your laptop ?

Having plenty of RAM can take the load off of your CPU.

If you have 4 gigs RAM installed, add 4 more gigs, if possible.

[Andre S. Veteran]

Do you have the max. RAM that you can have installed on your laptop ?

Having plenty of RAM can take the load off of your CPU.

If you have 4 gigs RAM installed, add 4 more gigs, if possible.

Unless you're actually using close to 4 gigs, having more memory available won't do anything. Based on the description of the problem, memory isn't the problem here.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

Having plenty of RAM can take the load off of your CPU.

Umm, your RAM does not run CPU processes. The reason they are 2 different things.

[xendrome]

Umm, your RAM does not run CPU processes. The reason they are 2 different things.

But disk swapping because of the lack of ram can use CPU resources.

[Andre S. Veteran]

But disk swapping because of the lack of ram can use CPU resources.

At that point any perceivable slowdown is because of disk access, not the CPU being used for swapping. Hard drives and even SSDs are several orders of magnitude slower than CPUs.

[Hum]

Umm, your RAM does not run CPU processes. The reason they are 2 different things.

My CPU usage came way down, after adding RAM to two computers. ;)

I no longer saw 100% CPU activity.