Post: #1

I've had my current laptop since '09 and it seems in perfectly decent condition. However, for the past week the fan has been slightly louder and is on the whole time the computer is on, even if I'm just on the forum for example, and not running multiple things.

Does anyone know why this is, how/if you can fix it and does the (low) amount of space on the hard-drive affect it? I think if I recall correctly, the more space I have left on the drive, the smoother everything runs, even though storage space shouldn't be anything to do with the RAM etc.

I've had a similar issue about 18 months ago, where the fan would go on for a bit then the computer would shut itself down immediately due to overheating. I took it to a computer shop and my fan was clogged with dust etc. This can't be the same as the computer isn't shutting itself down so therefore the fan must be functional.

Maybe it's just time to get another laptop.

Post: #2

4 year old laptop?

Bro, I've got some bad news.......

Post: #3

(12-09-2013 01:35 PM)MrXY Wrote:  4 year old laptop?

Bro, I've got some bad news.......

It's a Dell too!

Post: #4

The fan probably has loads of dust caught up in it again. You've got to get the fan out of the computer and pull out all the built up dust out.

I had the same problem of the fan being loud then the fan stopped working and the computer would shutdown.

I found a clip on youtube that showed me how to take apart the laptop and get the fan out.

Ended up being so much crap stuck in the fan

Post: #5

Put up with the noise. Laptops tend to break down after about 4-5 years. Just ride it out until it dies.

Or you could buy some pressurised air off amazon (for a few pounds) and squirt it into the fan to see if it helps?

That pressurised air is quite useful to have for odd jobs like this.

Post: #6

It sometimes means that your cpu is getting hotter than normal and the fan comes on to cool it down. Apparently most chips have only a 3-5 year shelf life.

At least that's what my research this month has uncovered. That and AMD chips take more watts, run hotter than Intel chips, generally speaking.

Post: #7

All you have to do is get a bottle of air and blow the fan out.... Also consider getting a laptop cooling mat that plugs into your usb.... Laptops will last way longer if you keep everything cooled...

Post: #8

(12-09-2013 01:34 PM)Teedub Wrote:  Does anyone know why this is, how/if you can fix it and does the (low) amount of space on the hard-drive affect it? I think if I recall correctly, the more space I have left on the drive, the smoother everything runs, even though storage space shouldn't be anything to do with the RAM etc.

Free disk space has little to no impact on performance, provided the disk is not completely full.

As a first step, check CPU usage. In Windows 7, you can check by starting Task Manager and then click the Performance tab.

If your CPU usage is consistently above 20% even when you're not doing anything, it's most likely a software problem. You'd need to update a driver or uninstall something that's not running right.

If your CPU usage is low (single digits) but your fan is still noisy, look at it as a hardware problem.

Post: #9

I had the same problem a few years ago. Mine was overheating so much it would shut down.

1) Clean out your laptop as discussed above
2) Make sure you elevate the laptop or get a cooling fan - having the laptop flat on a table blocks some vents
3) Clean up your pc - i.e. virus check, malware etc. I went as far as turning down display settings etc things I didn't need but made the laptop look all fancy, this reduced the stress on the pc and therefore requires less cooling. Maybe a complete reinstall and just loading things you need would be healthy for the laptop - also defrag

Post: #10

Yeah CPU is running at around 5% when not doing anything. I'll just open it up tomorrow and blow the crap out of the fan bit.

Post: #11

You probably have the Stuxnet virus.

Post: #12

The other thing you can do to make it run more efficiently is go into the control panel and you can change the appearance settings.... I have mine running very low and it keeps my computer running fast and smooth... Things like just having the picture icon appear instead of being able to see exactly what the picture is makes a big difference on performance... Or having shadows appear when you are dragging and moving something can cause things to slow down...

Just go into control panel, performance information and tools, advanced settings, adjust the appearance and performance of windows... And from there you can adjust your computer... I just clicked on adjust for best performance

Post: #13

(12-09-2013 02:24 PM)BIGINJAPAN Wrote:  All you have to do is get a bottle of air and blow the fan out.... Also consider getting a laptop cooling mat that plugs into your usb.... Laptops will last way longer if you keep everything cooled...

The cooling mats can prolong the life big time. The fan is always the first thing to go from over usage. The mat keeps it from working hard.

Post: #14

If blowing the dust out doesn't fix it and it's not a software problem, you should consider replacing the fan.

I've got a Lenovo X201 and it was shutting down from overheating. I bought a brand new replacement fan on ebay for $4.58 (with shipping) and now everything is working fine. It will take an afternoon if it's the first time you're opening up a laptop, but it's doable.

Also, there's a useful program called tpfancontrol. It displays the temperature of the various sensors in your laptop, controls the cooling fan, and lets you manually control the cooling fan as well. Not sure if it will work with Dells, but there's probably something similar out there.

Post: #15

It could be other things, but the most likely cause is the fan clogged with dust again. 18 months is more than enough for a new layer of dust bunnies to accumulate inside your laptop, no matter how clean you keep your living space. What you're hearing is the intermediate phase between the ideal state and the "overheat shutdown" state. Your fan is probably slowed down, but not completely clogged, so it has to work an extra when the laptop reaches a high temperature (albeit not so high that it would shut down). It will likely become overwhelmed and the laptop will begin shutting down within 2-3 months.

I suggest checking your temperature with CoreTemp and posting the results back here: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Post: #16

I have a Sony laptop that I've had for a couple of years. The noise and the fan being on frequently was getting annoying. Several months ago I dissasembled my laptop and took out the fan to clean it of dust...it was like night and day after that, back to whisper quiet.