cure of computer snoring
December 29, 2008 7:49 PM Subscribe
Noisy Laptop filter
My four year old Sony Vaio is loud as a drunken politician. The noise seems to be originated from an over-worked fan. I have run all kinds of virus hunting & killing, and system tweaking softwares, but it "snores" as hard as ever.
Any other suggestions short of re-installing the whole windows op system?
Thanks,
My four year old Sony Vaio is loud as a drunken politician. The noise seems to be originated from an over-worked fan. I have run all kinds of virus hunting & killing, and system tweaking softwares, but it "snores" as hard as ever.
Any other suggestions short of re-installing the whole windows op system?
Thanks,
If you think the fan is just dirty, you could try spraying the fan with some compressed air (use the kind in a can, not from an air compressor) - that may knock some dust off (well, possibly blow it deeper into the laptop) and quite the fan.
Possibly the machine is just running hotter due to dust build up, in which case you may consider opening it up. Laptop disassembly isn't for the faint of heart, but not too difficult with the right tools, good lighting, and a clean table top.
You could checkout your BIOS to see what the fan settings are there. If you allow the BIOS to control (or not control) the fans this may result in less fan use and thus less noise.
Lastly, google around for a fan control application for your laptop - I know there are several third party apps for Dell laptops. Such an app will allow you to control the fans. Be aware though that the fan is running loud for a reason (likely heat) and disabling or slowing it could lead to other problems.
posted by wfrgms at 8:04 PM on December 29, 2008
Possibly the machine is just running hotter due to dust build up, in which case you may consider opening it up. Laptop disassembly isn't for the faint of heart, but not too difficult with the right tools, good lighting, and a clean table top.
You could checkout your BIOS to see what the fan settings are there. If you allow the BIOS to control (or not control) the fans this may result in less fan use and thus less noise.
Lastly, google around for a fan control application for your laptop - I know there are several third party apps for Dell laptops. Such an app will allow you to control the fans. Be aware though that the fan is running loud for a reason (likely heat) and disabling or slowing it could lead to other problems.
posted by wfrgms at 8:04 PM on December 29, 2008
Frist off, reinstalling windows isnt going to do anything, unless you have a run-away process that is taking 100% of the CPU and over-heating the computer. If this is true then you should be able to see this in task manager and remove whatever application is causing this.
It could be that the fan isnt being over-worked, but the bearing on it is going bad and its just a lot noisier. At that point all you can do is replace the fan. Easier said than done on a laptop. You might want to have a pro do this.
Youre also welcome to play with SpeedFan, but there's a good chance you can fry you laptop if you just turn down that fan.
Seconding cleaning it out with lots of compressed air.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:39 PM on December 29, 2008
It could be that the fan isnt being over-worked, but the bearing on it is going bad and its just a lot noisier. At that point all you can do is replace the fan. Easier said than done on a laptop. You might want to have a pro do this.
Youre also welcome to play with SpeedFan, but there's a good chance you can fry you laptop if you just turn down that fan.
Seconding cleaning it out with lots of compressed air.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:39 PM on December 29, 2008
Nthing cleaning it out. As in take it apart and blow out the dust from the fan and vents (blow OUT, not IN). In fact, might as well give all the innards a good blow, including the keyboard. I got in the habit of disassembling my laptop every 6 months or so just to clean it.
posted by curagea at 8:54 PM on December 29, 2008
posted by curagea at 8:54 PM on December 29, 2008
Have you tried cleaning the fan yet?
This did wonders for some brutal fan noise in my desktop. I think the dust build-up was making the fan unbalanced. As others have said, taking apart a laptop is not a trivial undertaking, but it's not brain surgery either.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:20 PM on December 29, 2008
This did wonders for some brutal fan noise in my desktop. I think the dust build-up was making the fan unbalanced. As others have said, taking apart a laptop is not a trivial undertaking, but it's not brain surgery either.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:20 PM on December 29, 2008
Caution! When blowing out dust, use something to keep the fan from spooling up, bad for fans!
posted by raildr at 9:31 PM on December 29, 2008
posted by raildr at 9:31 PM on December 29, 2008
Oh bless you for asking this!
Agreeing with the above comments that reinstalling is unlikely to help.
My laptop has been sounding like a blender for many months now, and now it overheats & shuts itself down several times a day at random intervals. I assumed it was the bearings going bad and resigned myself to buying a new machine next month and just leaving the current noisy one at work to provide white noise and to mess around with checking email and reading askme between clients. Does yours make the noise all the time? Mine complains mostly after it's been for a drive so I guess it doesn't like my driving or the way I toss it into the passenger seat when we're commuting. It tends to settle down after it's been running for a while - I'm not sure if that suggests bearings or dust or something else?
I installed Speed Fan last week when someone recommended it here and it seems quite alarmed. From the responses in this and similar threads, and since I don't have any work until Saturday, I think I'll do a back up & try pulling the machine apart and inspecting the fan. Please update and let us know what you do and & it goes.
posted by goshling at 11:47 PM on December 29, 2008
Agreeing with the above comments that reinstalling is unlikely to help.
My laptop has been sounding like a blender for many months now, and now it overheats & shuts itself down several times a day at random intervals. I assumed it was the bearings going bad and resigned myself to buying a new machine next month and just leaving the current noisy one at work to provide white noise and to mess around with checking email and reading askme between clients. Does yours make the noise all the time? Mine complains mostly after it's been for a drive so I guess it doesn't like my driving or the way I toss it into the passenger seat when we're commuting. It tends to settle down after it's been running for a while - I'm not sure if that suggests bearings or dust or something else?
I installed Speed Fan last week when someone recommended it here and it seems quite alarmed. From the responses in this and similar threads, and since I don't have any work until Saturday, I think I'll do a back up & try pulling the machine apart and inspecting the fan. Please update and let us know what you do and & it goes.
posted by goshling at 11:47 PM on December 29, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by 517 at 7:55 PM on December 29, 2008