Doubled RAM, now T60 seems to run hotter - is this possible?

[CalypsoBean]

I recently upgraded to 4 gig of ram, from 1.5 gig, and I notice that the laptop fan seems to be running more often and that the laptop feels hotter than it did before. Since I don't have any temp readings to compare to from before the ram swap, I don't have any objective temp difference that I can refer to, but it seems odd to me that upgrading ram should have any effect on how hot the computer runs. Does anyone have any experience with anything like this, or am I simply paranoid?

[Harryc]

Run tpfancontrol in BIOS mode and report the temps before and after removing the extra RAM.
http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/donate.html

[CalypsoBean]

Run tpfancontrol in BIOS mode and report the temps before and after removing the extra RAM.
http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/donate.html

i am traveling right now, so I can't remove and replace the ram at this time, but I just installed CoreTemp and it's showing core 2 at a low of 75 degrees and a high of 90, and core 1 at a low of 80 degrees and a high of 96.


does that seem high? i've got a web browser open, and a mail client, and that's it - not crunching major numbers here.

[Harryc]

That sounds high. What is the CPU utilization looking like in task manager?

[CalypsoBean]

it's sitting at around 50 percent, with spikes up to 70 percent, with just those two apps open

[Harryc]

Ok, what apps or processes are consuming CPU processing power?. You should be able to sort on CPU by clicking on the CPU heading under processes in task manager.

[CalypsoBean]

something called PresentationFontCache.exe is eating 50 percent of my CPU - I'm running XP. Trying to get to the bottom of this right now.

[CalypsoBean]

I stopped that service, and now my temps are back to a much more normal 60 degrees - I just have to hope that I don't run into any WPF apps that really need that service, I guess.

[Harryc]

It's part of MS dotnet framework. You can try uninstalling and reinstalling dotnet. There is another fix I found but it appears to be for W7 -
Go to C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\ ,delete all Font*.dat and reboot it.
Reference - http://social.answers.microsoft.com/For ... e5395304da

[CalypsoBean]

i'm trying a dotnet repair right now, thanks for the tip.

[Harryc]

IMHO, if you just put in new RAM and some strange behavior pops up, you might want to consider running extensive diagnostics on the RAM, like looping memtest86 for several hours.

[CalypsoBean]

that's good advice, but i severely tested the ram right after putting it in, and it checked out ok.

i think the issue was a dotnet problem that may have been triggered by some software I installed.

[RealBlackStuff]

SystemUpdate requires dotnet crap. V2.0/SP1 is sufficient for it, but if you do Windows Update, it downloads/installs V3.5 or higher to the tune of an horrendous over 150MB bloatware.

[Harryc]

SystemUpdate requires dotnet crap. V2.0/SP1 is sufficient for it, but if you do Windows Update, it downloads/installs V3.5 or higher to the tune of an horrendous over 150MB bloatware.

That's a good point RBS, I usually (blindly) take down all MS updates but I believe the only pgm I use that requires dotnet is SystemUpdate. So maybe next time I'll reconsider.

[CalypsoBean]

I personally choose not to use windows update either.


i "repaired" dotnet 3.5, rebooted, and my temps are back to normal without the font executable running at 50 percent of CPU.

I want to say something - I worked in IT for many years, and have a great deal of computer experience. When Harryc suggested that I look at my task list to see what programs were using what percentage of CPU, my initial thought was "of course I know what apps are running right now, I don't need to do this." But in reality, I didn't, and by following his advice and stepping outside of my preconceived notions of what I thought I knew about my laptop, I was able to get to the bottom of this problem.

Thanks Harryc for helping me take the blinders off and go through the right steps to solve the problem instead of just making assumptions as I had been doing.

[Harryc]

You're welcome, I'm glad we were able to help.