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Post by theblondette on Dec 30, 2008 14:24:11 GMT -5
Because surely some of you have more technical knowhow than me?
My issue right now is that my laptop's fan is REALLY BLOODY LOUD. It didn't used to be, and a bit of googling suggests that it may need a bit of a clean out. However, I am scared of taking anything apart! Is this something I can be trusted to do myself, or should I ask a professional?! The fan sound is not particularly unhealthy, so I think that it's not *fingers crossed* in danger of dying or nowt, but the loud volume and increased vibration is driving me nuts.
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Camie
Midnight Hauler
Posts: 1,093
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Post by Camie on Dec 30, 2008 21:37:33 GMT -5
When that happened to my old computer all it really needed was a good cleaning out, mostly from dust build up on the fan itself.
I don't know how to fix it myself... I would take it to the people who built it and they would fix it.
It never sounded the same again (mine that is) ...but I think my old computer was just wacked.. or cursed or something.
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Post by stephanie on Dec 30, 2008 23:15:05 GMT -5
You might not have to take your computer apart to clean the fan -- you can buy a can of compressed air to blow it out, or even a mini-vacuum to grab the debris from the outside. You can also switch the fan speed in the BIOS. Laptops are a bit more complex than desktops when it comes to dis/assembling, but I wouldn't call it a particularly difficult endeavor.
Having your fan running all the time increases the risk of your computer overheating, so it's best to get it sorted sooner than later. If you lived in Milwaukee, I'd fix it for you! Since you're inconveniently located across the ocean, if compressed air/vacuum doesn't work and you're not comfortable with unscrewing/moving a few things, I'd suggest taking it down to a local repair shop and asking if you need a replacement fan or just a good old-fashioned cleaning. In my experience, a huge chain like PC World is more likely to take advantage of a customer's lack of know-how.
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essbee
Has Status
#416
Posts: 2,526
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Post by essbee on Dec 30, 2008 23:29:52 GMT -5
My fan (MacBook) was going berserk until I ran the Activity Monitor and discovered that the "helpful" Boingo widget that I had downloaded was sucking 90+% of my CPU at all times. Have you looked at that sort of thing?
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Post by theblondette on Dec 31, 2008 7:09:58 GMT -5
Thanks you guys!
I shall investigate what my laptop is doing behind the scenes and hopefully it will be back to its reasonably quiet self soon enough. I can't have a laptop this noisy if I want to use it in quiet places like a PhD workroom!
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Admin
Midnight Hauler
Posts: 2,434
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Post by Admin on Dec 31, 2008 13:43:11 GMT -5
Get a Mac.
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