hello: I've brought this discussion over here to hardware, from the software section.
I have an HP Pavillion 4000 and it used to be that the fan rarely turned on. In recent months it is turning on more and more and making more and more noise. In the last month or so, the computer has begun to shut down without any type of warning, whether I am ONLINE or not. But when it does shutdown, I'm usually running a lot of programs, such as a few Firefox tabs, outlook express, and Word. The more things I run, the louder the fan gets into the computer SHUTS down.

Mr. Socrates in the software section said that MAYBE the computer needs cleaning or the fan needs replacing. I just wanted to check that out with you hardware people here. My question is: If the fan is running more, does that mean it needs replacing, or that something else is happening to make it run more? Should I cut down on the background programs, or clean up the programs and free memory? Is there anything I can do to make the burden lighter, or is this definitely a fan replacement, computer clean up issue. I can say that I see crumbs and lint between some of the laptop keys. On my old DESKTOP, I would just dislodge the keys and clean it out myself, but I don't know what goes inside a laptop and am afraid to touch it!

Suggestions and advice.....? The simplest, and easiest, of course!

Dr. D.Once again, you can (and should) cleanup the programs that are running and causing the computer to use more processing power, heat up, and use the fan more... however, if that is really all you want to do...

You're running the risk of DAMAGING the hardware permanently because by the sounds of it, the computer's been overheating.

Also... crumbs and lint... not good.

If you really decide to go the route of just cleaning up software, you're going to permanently damage your laptop.either your fans dying or the heatsink is clogged with dust and your fan is trying to cope with it. if you are comfortable with disassembling your laptop, i recommend cleaning your heatsink. if you are not comfortable with disassembling it, then i recommend sending it to a PC repair place.Quote from: homer on January 23, 2008, 04:19:28 PM

either your fans dying or the heatsink is clogged with dust and your fan is trying to cope with it. if you are comfortable with disassembling your laptop, i recommend cleaning your heatsink. if you are not comfortable with disassembling it, then i recommend sending it to a PC repair place.