Over-heating

[jamielynn]

I have been avoiding using the newest version of WLM because it makes my laptop over heat.
Last night it forced me to install the newest version or I couldn't sign in. Sure enough, I have the same problem. My laptop will get so hot after just a few minutes of running Windows Live Messenger that it restarts.

Any ideas??

[patndoris]

Does your laptop meet these minimum specifications for running Live Essentials programs?

[jamielynn]

Yes it does

[Jeff]

What kind of laptop do you have, and what operating system? I've never heard of WLM doing anything of the sort!

Does it overheat just signing in, or is there a certain activity that triggers this (i.e. video chat)?

[jamielynn]

I have a Dell Inspiron 1420 - Windows Vista

I dont even have to have WLM signed in.. it overheats if I just have the program running. Super frustrating!

[Jeff]

Apparently the Inspiron laptops have had a history of problems with overheating (see this Wikipedia article).

What's particularly odd about the symptoms you describe is that the overheating ONLY occurs when Windows Live Messenger (WLM) is running. WLM is not CPU-intensive, so there should be no reason for it to run hot. Do you have any WLM plug-ins installed (i.e. Plus!)? The only thing I can imagine might cause this is a poorly coded script for a plug-in that's getting out of control (looping endlessly or something that causes the CPU activity to spike).

You might try running perfmon before loading WLM. See what happens to the CPU utilization before and after starting WLM, and if possible, post a screenshot... I'm VERY curious!

And of course I'd like to help solve your problem.

[patndoris]

I'm at a loss on this one. I had Skype overheat my laptop once (and only once) using webcam while using some other intensive programs at the same time - but never has WLM caused it.

A screenshot of your task manager while WLM is running, showing the highest usage processes might be helpful. If we can narrow down to the offending process we might be able to figure out why it's causing the problem.

[Philip]

Gulp! I've just acquired a new Dell Studio 15 running Windows 7 64-bit...so far so good, no overheating problems with the latest WLM (but frankly this is the first time I've heard of WLM overheating a laptop) I'd be very intrigued to get to the bottom of this!

Try running Windows Task Manager too by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc. I've had problems in the past with Werfault.exe cranking up my CPU cycles (werfault is the Windows error reporting thingy) Just terminate it.

[jamielynn]

i ran task manager and the file that is using up the CPU usage is called wlmcomm.exe

[patndoris]

First off, please confirm if that file name is wlmcomm.exe or wlcomm.exe.

Are you running a custom theme? If so, try changing it back to the default. You may want to temporarily disable your screensaver and see if that makes any difference.

What firewall are you using?