Annoying static shocks from MBP (in Windows only)

I have owned my 2010 13-ich MacBook Pro for over two years now and never before experienced what I'm about to describe. No too long ago I installed Windows 7 in Boot Camp just to play some new games (OT: it's unbelievable how surprisingly potent the 320M still is).

However, when running Windows and playing a game, a lot of static electricity seems to build up on the computer. Almost every other time my skin touches the unibody chassis I get a static shock. This happens not only when I touch the palm rests but also the little aluminum spaces between the keys. It doesn't particularly hurt, but when it happens a dozen times per minute, it gets really annoying and in such a frequency it may even be harmful, but I'm no expert on this.

Strangely, this never ever happens in OS X. Could it perhaps mean Windows uses too much power or something? Can I control this somewhere?

I tried googling the problem, but I only found solutions involving using a grounded wall plug - I use that. I'm in Europe, so I'm using the European plug, if it's of any help.

Any ideas anyone? I'll be thankful for any help. Thanks a lot.

Yeah, I'm very happy I didn't get my MBP later. I missed out on Thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge, but the 320M is great for Boot Camp gaming. Really surprisingly so, because now I'm playing Dishonored, a brand new game with requirements in the graphics department way above my specifications, but for me it runs at full details (just without antialiasing) with very decent FPS most of the time.

I was convinced it was definitely electricity, but errare humanum est, maybe it is really just the heat from the very heavy load on the computer. I will keep using it and I'll be careful to notice what sort of sensation I'm really feeling and if I really think it's gotta be electricity, maybe I'll bring my computer to the store for a check-up.
I'll post any and all updates here.
Thanks for the advice.

Dark Void said:

The 320M is nice for an integrated GPU, and can still play some games really well.

Are you sure what you are experiencing is static electricity? I seem to faintly remember a resemblance of what you are talking about when gaming under Windows via Bootcamp, and it was basically "irritation" from the heat and such due to the fact that the laptop is under heavy load and the Aluminum build makes for greater transfer.

If what you are experiencing is indeed electricity, it could be a number of things - the outlet, the charger, the laptop itself, etc.

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MishalGunner said:

I used to have the 2010 MBP, and when charging, I could feel a small buzz emanating from the chassis when my hand went near - I live in the third world, so I changed my charger plug from 2 pin to 3 pin (grounded), and all issues subsided.

Recently, I upgraded to the rMBP (I waited until a model with ML preinstalled was available, as alot of the issues were with the first batch or two), and have no issues with static or electricity, and I live in a country with extremely unreliable and volatile electricity.

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You may be really on to something here. I'm from Europe, but I recently moved to Turkey where I'll be living for a year and only here I started to experience the problem. I really don't know if electricity is problematic in Turkey, I certainly haven't had any problems or experienced any blackouts, but who knows, maybe the elctricity is really delivered differently here. I still use the 3-pin grounded plug, though.

Well, I've now experienced it happening in OS X as well, so it's not limited to Windows only.
Thanks for the advice, in the end it turned out you were completely right with the (lack of) grounding.

It turns out that the wall sockets in Turkey are not grounded and they don't have that third pin. At least in my building, that is. At the first glance they look like the standard European 3-pin sockets, and that's what I thought they were at first.

So mystery solved. I don't think there's a solution for that at least until I leave Turkey next year, but it's good to know there's nothing wrong with my computer.