Wayfarers of Veeshan

Now that my modem problem is (presumably) taken care of, I have another. My computer has always been noisy, but lately it's been much worse. A couple of people at work suggested that I take the panel off the CPU and blow compressed air inside; they said sometimes dust on a fan makes it unbalanced and noisy. Yesterday morning I removed the side and blew air in there. When I tried to start it up again, it would power up, begin to boot, and shut itself down. I tried this 3-4 times. It finally started up (after I had let it sit awhile), and after it booted fully I turned it off and came to work.

When I got home last night I turned it on and it ran for probably an hour with no problems (except it was still noisy). I logged into EQ and was running across PoK when my computer completely shut down. After awhile I got back on long enough to email Haams and Mal that I wouldn't be on. I didn't even try this morning.

Anyone have any ideas? Did I mess something up by blowing air into it? My initial thought is that a fan went out and that's why it keeps shutting down, but it wouldn't explain why it starts to boot and then stops. Power supply?

Generally, starting to boot and then shutting down is not a power supply indicative issue. I would suspect a fan going out or a heatsink that isn't making enough contact. Some motherboards have built in temp. thresholds that shut a system off to prevent damage if it gets too hot.

Best bet to check a fan would be to open the case, turn on the system and physically observe the fans in the case. CPU fan is most likely followed by chipset fan, then case fans (which shouldn't cause this).

Can also get into BIOS and check to see if there is a page or option for looking at the temps and seeing what's going on there.

If you know the motheboard model that would help too.

i dont think it would be teh compressed air becuase i do that on a monthly basis on my machien becuase seef and i smoke

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President of the Allegretta Fan Club

I agree with Tan on this one. I have had this same issue a couple of times. For me, it has been the CPU fan and the Video card fan that have failed. You are describing what would happen if the CPU fan failed. They will often make a progressively louder noise up until they actually fail. You can do as Tan said and open the case and simply look at the CPU fan while you push the power button to turn on the computer. It should start to spin Imediately.

You can easily replace the CPU fan itself, or buy a completely fan/heatsink kit to replace your own. The fan/heatsink combinations can be found at just about any store that deals with computers. If you just want to replace the fan itself, you can usually find those at places that tend to sell computer parts or repairs more esily than if you just look at the bigger stores. At least this has been my experience. The fan itself will probably sell for $5-10, and the fan/heatsink will probably run you $15-20. You can definately get more expensive items if you want

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70 Bard, at your service
Elder, Wayfarer of Veeshan

Also, , , Irodanise (52 Pal), Irodanes (31 Rog), Iroardanis (19 BL), Sinadori (25 SK), Dreminal (32 Dru)

Thanks for the input, guys. :)

I concur with Tan and that "other bard". The "chipset" fan Tan mentioned is called the NB/NorthBridge fan. It it usually located near the CPU/HSF (heat sink fan). Additionally, you may have transformer enclosures that have their own fan as well. So in order I would check...

1/CPU fan
2/NB/chipset fan
3/Transformer fan
4/Case fans

NOTE:
Care should be taken when using compressed air around the NB fan/HS. They are typically cheaper/weaker than the CPU/HSF and more likely to be damaged under compressed air (My MOBO NB fan is KNOWN for this).

My computer person changed out the processor fan, and everything seems to be working fine. It hasn't shut itself down since that was switched out - and it's much quieter!

Thanks to all who posted suggestions.

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70 Bard, at your service
Elder, Wayfarer of Veeshan

Also, , , Irodanise (52 Pal), Irodanes (31 Rog), Iroardanis (19 BL), Sinadori (25 SK), Dreminal (32 Dru)