'Racing' cooling fan

[shony]

I have a compaq presario SR2125 desktop.

Recently, the cooling fan started 'racing'. I can barely do any work without the thing howling in my ear. Does anyone know what I need to change?. Is there a kind of thermostat control that can be tweaked?
Shony

[DavidGP]

HI Shony

A racing cooling fan is generally the sign that somethings getting hot inside the PC, so a few questions and thoughts on that to do:

1. Is the room the PC is in hot?
2. Are the fans and fan grills on the PC full of dust?
It is likley you will have the open the side of the case with PC off and check these, especially the CPU fan, but if you are not confident in doing such as task, get a friend whos computing aware and who can do this to help you.

With PC off, you can use a soft large brush to clean the fans and grills as well as some air in a can to blow out the dust.

3. As for thermostat, the BIOS can control in some PCs fans speeds (not all OEM PCs as in Compaqs have options to control fans), but as you likely have never changed anything in the BIOS the cause is likely heat and dust in the PC.

[shony]

Originally Posted by DavidGP

HI Shony

A racing cooling fan is generally the sign that somethings getting hot inside the PC, so a few questions and thoughts on that to do:

1. Is the room the PC is in hot?
2. Are the fans and fan grills on the PC full of dust?
It is likley you will have the open the side of the case with PC off and check these, especially the CPU fan, but if you are not confident in doing such as task, get a friend whos computing aware and who can do this to help you.

With PC off, you can use a soft large brush to clean the fans and grills as well as some air in a can to blow out the dust.

3. As for thermostat, the BIOS can control in some PCs fans speeds (not all OEM PCs as in Compaqs have options to control fans), but as you likely have never changed anything in the BIOS the cause is likely heat and dust in the PC.

Hi DavidGP...thanks for the reply..however, cleaning the fans and grilles and the inside of the computer were the first things I did. The placement is not in a hot area and there is plenty of space around it. Thanks anyway

[DavidGP]

Originally Posted by shony

Hi DavidGP...thanks for the reply..however, cleaning the fans and grilles and the inside of the computer were the first things I did. The placement is not in a hot area and there is plenty of space around it. Thanks anyway

Kinda .. however... would have been great if you mentioned this info to start with!

Have you checked Task Manager when the PC fans run fast and seen if your processes are at a high % and if so then suspect malware or a faulting application.

[shony]

Originally Posted by DavidGP

Kinda .. however... would have been great if you mentioned this info to start with!

Have you checked Task Manager when the PC fans run fast and seen if your processes are at a high % and if so then suspect malware or a faulting application.

Sorry not to mention it first. I check task manager all the time..the CPU only has to be running at 30% for the fan to start racing. It even starts racing when I turn the computer on and it is cold.................

[hrlow2]

Might have to refresh the thermal paste on your CPU.

[shony]

Originally Posted by hrlow2

Might have to refresh the thermal paste on your CPU.

Hi.thanks for the suggestion. I have no idea on this so I guess I'll have to take it to an expert.

Cheers

[shony]

Originally Posted by hrlow2

Might have to refresh the thermal paste on your CPU.

hrlow2

You da geek.......bought some nano grease,cleaned and applied and now as quiet as a mouse

Thanks thanks thanks

[Qapla]

Originally Posted by shony

...Recently, the cooling fan started 'racing'. I can barely do any work without the thing howling in my ear...

Are you sure the "howling" noise is the fan racing or could it be the bearing in the fan "squealing" or "humming"?

It could be that the fan needs replacing.

My brother's computer recently had a problem with heat at the CPU. Even tough his fan sounded like it was speeding up, when we checked it, that fan looked to be slowing down when it sounded like it was speeding up - had to open it and look while it was running. We cleaned and blew it (with canned air) and that did not help. We replaced the fan ... no problems since we put in the new fan.

[shony]

Originally Posted by Qapla

Are you sure the "howling" noise is the fan racing or could it be the bearing in the fan "squealing" or "humming"?

It could be that the fan needs replacing.

My brother's computer recently had a problem with heat at the CPU. Even tough his fan sounded like it was speeding up, when we checked it, that fan looked to be slowing down when it sounded like it was speeding up - had to open it and look while it was running. We cleaned and blew it (with canned air) and that did not help. We replaced the fan ... no problems since we put in the new fan.

Thanks Qapla..........no the fan is spinning fast.

[DavidGP]

Hi

Try starting your PC in Safe Mode (F8 at boot and then Safe Mode with Networking) and see if that changes things, this could lead to it being a software application at fault, so also tell us all the security software you have installed and follow the below as written as well to give us an idea of whats starting with your PC.

Run Ccleaner and click Tools > Startup and then click the Save to text file buttom at the bottom, Then attach your log to your next post as per these instructions HOW TO: Attach Items To Your Post

[hrlow2]

Glad to hear that it is straightened out.