How Bad Is A Dead Fan?

last few boots i've been getting "fan not functioning, recommended abort startup" message on my old laptap. i've ignored it b/c i need to get in and extract files to move over to my NEW laptop, but how dangerous is this? is the whole thing gonna crap out on me and not boot back up? worse yet, blank out the HDD somehow?

i anticipate several HOURS of work (maybe dozens) doing the transfer. there's like 800G of stuff there and i'm using a 32G USB stick to do it.

i don't mind if the PC crashes and needs a rest every so often. just so long as it doesn't affect ability to boot up again LATER and continue on with the transfer.

and no, i'm not talking about some s/w-managed continuous transfer. i'm picking and choosing folders myself, 20-30G at a time. so the interruptions are no big deal, just so long as PC manages to boot back up again later.

fwiw, it hasn't actually crashed ONCE yet. incl 24+ hour stretch when i left it running by accident!

leading me to conclude that *maybe* u can run fan-free longterm even...?

 

You have a couple choices. If me, I would just pull the drive, attach it to a USB adapter, then connect it to my new computer.

Or, you can just keep doing what you are doing.

"In theory" the worse that can happen is your CPU will get too hot, then simply shut down to protect itself. But theory and real world don't always agree.

Also, have you checked to see if the fan really isn't working? It could just be a failed sensor and the fan is still spinning.

Another option is to blast a desk from the side across the notebook to help move any heat away.

 

funny the PC doesn't feel warm at all. i've had ones in the past that were sizzling to the touch -- maybe even this one -- but not right now. if anything i might have guessed that a STOPPED fan had recently STARTED running here! (but for that message)

i will admit, i am not HEARING anything, tho. i guess. i dunno. only booting it for short spurts lining up transfers, so maybe the fan would have been at rest to begin with, right? it does come and go as needs be, doesn't it? (as opposed to running continuously)

how do i check it or that sensor? i fished around in the control panel and device manager, but i don't know what i'm looking for. is there someplace, somewhere showing "running" and/or actual speed?

 

That all depends on the motherboard and BIOS and how they are set up by default and/or user changes. Most all will speed up and slow down the fan as needed. Some will keep off until some threshold is passed but others will spin at all times.

Some fans are so quiet, at least when spinning slowly, you cannot hear them. You have to go by sight and feel. By feel, I mean by feeling for warm air coming out of the exhaust vent. I know for my PC, for example, I have to put my ear up to the vent so I can feel the warm air hitting my ear. My hands are not sensitive enough.

There's no way a normal user can test a sensor. You can try a hardware monitor program. HWiNFO64 is very (if not too) informative. Because the amount of information provided can be overwhelming, when using for the first time, I recommend you select “Sensors only” when prompted. Then scroll down to your motherboard’s section to see the temps and fan speeds. But again, just because there is no valued shown for a sensor, that does not mean the fan is not spinning.

 

sounds complicated! i thought u meant the fan would show status in the dev mgr or somewhere, not need all these outside analytics.

i'll just take my chances, i think. it's just one day or so needed to transfer things. and all indications are that heat causes things to *crash* long before things begin melting or the HDD blanks out. i already live with the occasional crash; i can deal with that.

tx again!