A few years after using my Toshiba laptop without any troubles, my unit started to shutdown frequently, much to my consternation. I spent a lot of time trying to find problems with my software. Eventually, I noticed that the bottom of the unit, in the cornet where the cooling system is located was very hot even though the system was operating. After awhile it became clear that it was laptop overheating that was causing the shutdowns, despite the cooling system being set at maximum.

My next step was to ask computer-literate people about my overheating problem. The usual response was laughter, because laptop overheating was very widespread. As to solutions, every person, including workers at Best Buy and their Geek Squad agents, talked about buying devices marketed as adjuncts to the laptop's cooling system. These are essentially platforms on which you place the laptop.� There are many such devices for sale.� They range in price from about $40 to $200.

My homemade solution, at first, was to place ice packs underneath the hot corner of my laptop. But that only worked to a limited degree and was messy.

The more I reflected on my problem the more I thought that it was pertinent that my overheating problem had started after several years of trouble-free operation. Plus it seemed quite important that the intake openings for the cooling system were on the bottom of the laptop, which seemed to me to be terrible design. Oddly enough, laptop makers generally advise consumers in the fine print not to use