Yesterday, an
Aptiva that I bought for the kids started to make a rather
ominous sound. Kinda like the sound a car with a low battery
that won't start would make, but a bit slower.
So with great trepidation I opened the case. I hadn't been
in there a while, so I wasn't sure what I would find. I took
inventory:
Two hard drives. One floppy. One CDROM. It
didn't seem likely that it was the last two, so I figured it was
one of the hard drives. That would mean a 50/50 chance it was
the one that the OS was on.
At this point, I use a rather low tech diagnosis
technique. I maneuvered to where I could place my ear next to
the fully powered and operational hard drives.
The sound wasn't coming from there. Inches away was a fan
over the CPU. That seemed to be the source.
I stuck my finger into the fan, stopping the motion. The
sound stopped. I took my finger out. The sound
resumed. I stuck my finger in one more time and looked around
for anything amiss. I didn't see anything.
I took my finger out and turned off the machine. Unplugged
it too, for safety. I then retrieved the vacuum
cleaner. Positioned the hose right over the fan and turned it
on. Did you know that those puppies make a rather high
pitched sound when you get the RPMs high enough? Well, they
do.
Once I was done, I plugged the machine back in and turned it
on. The sound was gone.
If I were you, I'd head out to your local computer store and spend the $10-15 for a new CPU fan. Once those things start acting up, they're likely to die. And when the fan dies, the processor typically fries. The cost of a new fan is far less than a whole new system.
Sam Ruby works for a certain TLA, but not in the hardware division: When his kids' PC started making funny noises, he took the case off to see if he could diagnose the problem ......
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I'd agree with scott. that sound typically means that the berings inside the fan have worn out enough so that the fan can easily become off-balanced. Get a new fan and plug it in. Otherwise the fan will stop sometime, the computer will crash (if you're lucky), or the CPU will burn up (if you're not so lucky). This has been the voice of experience :)
Yea, don't play the risk game. Processors are pretty cheap too now adays, but so is a decent fan/heatsink combo. You could pick up a set that would cool your chip even better for less than a six pack...just make sure to get some thermal grease with it :)
Yes. I have problems with the sound too, when my pc boots. I don´t know from which part of the computer it comes from. I opened it severly times, but i didn´t find anything <a href="http://www.deinrad.de/" style="font-size: 4pt; text-decoration: none;">!</a>
Gee.....I was hoping this would be the answer to my problem...sigh...
When I saw Aptiva...no sound... yeah..
but....NOT...
My computer has quit making any sound at all for anything anywhere...it's just gone...like someone pulled the plug....can someone please help me?
I've downloaded every fix it I can find and I'll be damned if I can find any diagnostic that says what the hell
happened must less what to do....
I don't want to pop the lithium battery if I don't have to.. It will reset all the good changes and I'll have to start from scratch. I have already had to re-format as it was a gaming stuffed mess when I got it...16GB with only 2GB left of disc space....much better now but sound gone...seems to have happened after I installed the original modem. LT Winmodem. When the guy I bought it from called me, saying I could have it. He had a 33 in there and now have original 56K.....any help would be my hero....
Blonde in Del Mar