CPU over 90°C and there's nothing I can do..

[resistance]

Hello,
My computer is infected with a virus and I'm thinking of formatting my computer,but the temperature is about 96°C and the computer freezes up a lot,of course;which makes me unable to even do anything.The virus causes the heating up,I'm sure of it,but I can neither clean up the virus (as the computer freezes up until the time I can even run the system scan) nor can I format the computer.I'm not so experienced about hardware,but I tried downclocking the processor from BIOS settings (I decreased the clock ratio from 15x to 8x,hope I didn't do anything wrong) and the temperature decreased to 89°C.The computer is an old one,2001-made,but it was working properly until this incident.It has 1.6 Ghz Pentium 4 processor,256 MBs of RAM,40 GB HDD,and a 64 MB Nvidia Geforce2 MX graphics card.The PC Health Status menu in BIOS settings say my CPU temperature is 89-90°C and the CPU fan's spinning rate is about 4000 RPMs.There seems to be no any other fans.Is there a way I can reduce the temperature just long enough to format and reinstall?And without opening up the case,if possible;I'm afraid of damaging things beyond repair.

Thank you..

 

[CCT]

1 - how do you know you have a virus?

2 - have you dropped or jarred your comp recently (or someone in the family possibly)

3 - are you sure the cpu fan is running?

4 - is air being blown from the psu out the back of the case?

 

[kimsland]

Hi resistance :wave: and welcome to TechSpot

If your CPU temperature is excessive in system bios (before Windows even loads)
Then this is not to do with any virus issue.

Sadly I cannot think of another way, other than opening the case, and reseating the CPU (with new thermal paste) Plus it would be a good idea to blow out all internal dust, and check your fans operation.

Therefore if you are not comfortable in doing this (referring to the user manual and anti-static safety precautions); then I believe the only resolution is for someone else who is comfortable in doing this, do it.

 

[SNGX1275]

Yep, either your heatsink is clogged terribly with dust or your heatsink has become unseated against the processor.

If its that hot from a cold boot in the bios then I'm certain your heatsink isn't making good contact with the CPU.

Even if you only reach that temp inside Windows I'd still put the blame on dust or the heatsink no longer being seated. With a properly seated heatsink and running fan your processor would never reach those temperatures even at 100% load on your processor.

 

[resistance]

Thanks for the help..I know I have a virus,because my access to Task Manager and Regedit is blocked.I managed to open up the Task Manager,and there is a program called SSVICHOSST.exe (it's definitely a virus) I was thinking if that was the reason the system is heating up,because it wasn't like this before.By the way,when I checked up on the BIOS settings,I've already restarted the computer twice because it freezed up again.The CPU fan is running,I'm sure of it,(The computer is a desktop and it stands still for 7 years,and it mustn't be good for the computer,I guess..) I'm not sure if 4000 RPMs is a good value.Is it?

 

[CCT]

Boot into the bios - many comps have a cpu temp display there - if you do, what temp does it show after five minutes?


If it's high, then you likely have a bad heatsink interface.

If it's low, then you likely have a clogged heatsink that doesn't sufficiently cool the cpu when the 'virus' comes into play and the virus is running your cpu at a high use rate (some push 100%).

If the latter is the case, reinstalling shouldn't overheat you since the virus isn't in play. BUT, at some time, after a seven year operation, that comp has to be opened and the dust and crud blown out.


gl

 

[resistance]

Yes,I've managed to clean up the virus and the problem still continues..I've opened up the bios and watched it for a minute or so- the temperature climbed to 70°C while I watch,and I guess it went up to 90°C again.And the computer does look a little bit dusty,so I'll try to clean up the dust tomorrow.I hope it works..

 

[Bluemouse]

1) Take off the heatsink & clean old paste off (both cpu and heatsink), make sure you don't touch the cpu with your finger (oils on your hand = bad)
2) Buy some good thermal paste
3) Apply the thermal paste smoothly over the heatsink, but make sure that it doesn't ooze out the sides when heatsink is applied (not too much)
4) Put heatsink back on cpu and make sure it is together smoothly.


As a side note, doesn't the bios shut off the computer after a certain temperature? You may want to check into those settings in the bios too.

 

[resistance]

OK,I'll try that.Thank you.
The bios doesn't shut off the computer but it makes the computer freeze up,I think.I'll check and see if there is an option like that.