The tale of the CPU, the fan and a BIOS update I can't get

Where'd you get it from? Does the vendor have its own tech support? As in, "Bring it in and we'll have a look at it, since it's still under the first year warranty."

-Derek

Fran said:

Hi.

I have a four-month-old Compaq Presario CQ60 430SA. In the last couple of weeks the fan has started making a screaming noise and my CPU Usage keeps jumping to 100% when all I knowingly have running is MSN Messenger and AW. I have tried:

- Scooshing the fan with compressed air to clean it.
- Running SpyBot and Ad-Aware which both came up clean.
- Reinstalling the BIOS, as suggested by Compaq/HP's customer service in an email, which caused the fan to shriek like an angry mosquito in a tin and froze my laptop completely. I had to take the battery out to turn it off, but thankfully all my files are fine. They also suggested I update the BIOS, but I have the latest version available installed.

I'm running Windows Vista and all my updates for that are current, and AVG Anti-virus which has just scanned and found nothing. It's maybe not a serious problem and the fan noise makes it sound worse than it is, but it's really irritating in such a new machine. Please note that I'm not at all technical, and allergic to screwdrivers. There may be nothing I can do except wait for the next BIOS update to be released, but if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Thanks very much.

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Doing what I do for a living I really should know more about this sort of stuff, but I ended up doing what you probably did and had a quick google. My interpretation of what came back is:

1. 100% CPU usage is an indicator that your CPU is overheating.
2. A fan going mental is an indicator that your CPU is overheating.

I'm not up on what "scooshing" actually means, but if you tried to clear out the air vents then you've already visited pretty much the first and last port of call for the lay user. My gut feeling (and that's all it is) is that I don't think this is software related, and if it's hardware related there's not much you can do to remedy the problem. I'm pretty certain you should still be within the warranty period, and if it were me I'd cut to the chase and phone up Currys. They'll probably pass you onto Compac support and you'll finally get to speak to someone who knows what they're talking about! You could even get a contact number yourself from the Compac website.

As an aside, we bought a PS3 from Asda for the son last February for his birthday, and in the summer it stopped working. In the meantime the original receipt had gone awol, and when I went back to the shop they told me to contact Sony directly. So I got a support number off of the web and phoned up. They were incredibly helpful, diagnosed a fairly common but fatal prroblem and the fact that I had a serial number was all they neeeded. They sent out a courier to deliver a replacement and collect the dead one within the week.

If you went through tech support, they might not have shown you this:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...ry&lc=en&dlc=et&cc=ee&lang=et&product=3975747

Here's more on updating BIOS:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...=ee&product=3975747&lang=et&docname=c00828604

I'd try a BIOS update again for good measure since you had one install go kaflooey. Get a nice, fresh copy.

I'd definitely look into the power settings. And make sure you're doing what you can to keep the unit cool; maybe even a cooling mat. But it sounds like the CPU is just running too hot and that you aren't the only one to have noticed. Hmmm.

Unless these new ideas work, I'd definitely continue with Tech Support. Heat can hurt your new PC, and it's on them to fix that. Good luck!

IMO defective fan

Love the title

I concur. Dodgy fan.

And I haven't heard scoosh in several years. Is it dreich up there, btw? That's a word that doesn't get used enough down here.

But Heather the Weathergirl on BBC Scotland used to say it all the time. And she's from Paisley.

Fran said:

I Also I'm very anti-social and rarely leave the house.

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You should get yourself off down the Methodome. Bet there's loads of excitement to be found.

you can buy your own fan, they are not too difficult to remove, open the cover and its usually 4 screws

it would be a very good idea to replace it. a faulty fan lessens its chances of cooling your processor, which then inadvertently slows your system down and could burn it up.

have a friend do it if you want, they are relatively cheap to buy, far cheaper than a cpu.

oh you mentioned a bios update. in the bios is the temp ranges for your cpu and fan rpm. so hand in hand they go together when not functioning.

Fran said:

Also I support the mighty Partick Thistle Nil, so the Methodome is literally out of my league.

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Partick Thistle, huh? That's two dodgy fans in your household.


Ithangyoulayeezungennulmen

It sounds like they have your PC and are going to fix it for you, but if you still have a problem you can try this handy utility: Speedfan.

It tells you the temperature of your computer and if your fan is working properly. You can even adjust your fan speed and more if you so desire.

Matera the Mad said:

IMO defective fan

Love the title

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Priene said:

I concur. Dodgy fan.

And I haven't heard scoosh in several years. Is it dreich up there, btw? That's a word that doesn't get used enough down here.

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I third that commotion. A fan making a "screaming noise" certainly has bad bearings, so isn't running fast enough to properly cool the processor, the temp goes up, and it automatically scales back the processor speed to keep itself from overheating, then the tasks it's running end up taking 100 percent of the processor cycles because it's not running fast enough to keep up.

But yeah, in your latest post you said Compaq is gonna look at it, let them replace the fan. They probably figured out by now that they put a batch of bad fans in this model. It's a $2 component (at their quantities - $5 ro $10 retail), and with the time and labor it's costing them $50 to replace each one that fails. They'll look for a more reliable fan supplier next time.

Seams said:

you can buy your own fan, they are not too difficult to remove, open the cover and its usually 4 screws

it would be a very good idea to replace it. a faulty fan lessens its chances of cooling your processor, which then inadvertently slows your system down and could burn it up.

have a friend do it if you want, they are relatively cheap to buy, far cheaper than a cpu.

oh you mentioned a bios update. in the bios is the temp ranges for your cpu and fan rpm. so hand in hand they go together when not functioning.

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I agree with all the above, if Compaq doesn't fix it for you, but they should.

In the meantime, take the cover off your computer. This can help with keeping the computer cool, making sure you don't cook the innards and need to replace more than the fan.

I used to have to do this in the old apartment. My frankencomputer ran too hot (and we didn't have the money to run the older-than-me-window-air-conditioner) during the summer months in our third floor apt, so I'd take the side of the case off and run her that way. Gotta be careful with it, but it does the job.

Or get the remains of the dead cockroach out of it

(Nerrr, really, a huge kamikaze moth dove into my CPU fan when I had my computer lying on its side wide open for some serious hardware diagnosis. Peed me off.)

yup nows the time to go online and see how its done, so when it goes again, you'll be ready. its not hard, just unfamiliar(well unless ya got the coin, then heck get someone else to do it )

glad its working better now, who knows, could have been a bit of grit in the bearings