noisy fan

[netty]

My IT replaced my Acer motherboard with a Foxconn and now the fan is really noisy, can anything be done about it? Still running XP!

[CLiNT]

I'm assuming that you are talking about a processor/heat sink fan right?



To adjust noise levels:
*Look in your BIOS's hardware section for fan controls, if it's a decent board you will be able to adjust fan speeds.

While you are in there, also have a look at the temperatures. If you are able to control fan speeds, keep an eye on your processor's temperatures as high temps may be an indication of a hot running processor and poorly suited heat sink/fan assembly.


*For replacement:
*If it's a processor fan, find out what kind of setup it is. Usually they will come in standard sizes, like 90 or 120 mm.This will mean opening the case and looking. You should also note the make and model of the heats sink and fan, if it looks hard to remove, you'll want to research it.
Most are simple to replace though. Occasionally you'll come across a setup where you may need to remove the entire heat sink to just get at the fan, hopefully this won't be the case with your setup.

[Xircal]

Try cleaning the air vents on the underside of the machine. If those are blocked, it will cause the fan to work harder to cool down the laptop which in turn will make it noisier.

You don't say whether it's a PC or a laptop, but I'm assuming it's the latter.

[netty]

It is a desk top and to top my woes, an old hard drive was removed, it seems that was corrupted, now my C drive is FULL, surely when a h/d is dis connected, it can be replaced. At this stage I cant update patches.

[Xircal]

Hi Netty,

I worked on a PC tech support helpdesk for many years and often came across comments from users who said that their "hard disk" had been replaced. However, these users thought the monitor was the computer and the tower was the 'hard disk'. So when they said the hard disk had been replaced, what they meant was the whole PC had been swapped for a new one. I just wanted to clarify with you whether that's what you meant too.

Just to clarify, this is what a hard disk looks like.

2.jpg

But you mentioned that the motherboard on the Acer machine had been replaced by a Foxconn. I was wondering how you determined that?

As regards the HD being 'full', how are you determining that too?

[Medico]

I would definitely find a new tech to look at the PC. Something is rather amiss here. Why would he replace a MB, pull a HD (did you have 2 HD's to start with or just 1) and not fix the problem completely? If you indeed had 2 HD's he should have determined what your needs were and installed either a larger HD, possibly partitioned to act as 2 drives if that's what you needed, or replaced the HD he pulled. No good tech would leave your PC with a full HD.

I also would like to know how you are determining your HD is full. If it is indeed full, there may be portions that can be eliminated to recover space. This is also things the tech should have done for you. How large is the HD you presently have installed?

Preventative maintenance and cleanup on a PC is relatively easy with a little work. Cleaning out all the temporary files on your PC can go a long way toward solving space problems.

Here's a batch file you can run to help with this chore. Just copy and paste the batch file into Notepad, the Save As a .bat file directly onto your desktop. Many people (myself included) actually have inserted this batch file into our Start Up folder so it runs each time Windows starts to clean things a bit when ever we reboot.

Start Copy/Paste on next line: Please note the space between the :: pause should be deleted. The Lounge software keeps interpreting this as a emoticon and inserting that instead of the code as written, sorry!

@Echo off
cls
Rem: Count the number of files on "C" before the cleanup.
Echo: Performing initial file count. Please wait!

for /f "delims=" %%A in ( ' dir /a /s "C:\" ^| find /c /v "" ' ) do set Count1=%%A
:: pause
Echo:
Disk Cleanup now starting.
Please Wait!
@Echo off

cleanmgr /sageset:99
del /F /S /Q "C:\temp\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%systemroot%\temp\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%systemroot%\SYSTEM32\config\systemprofile\Lo cal Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%systemroot%\Prefetch\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%homepath%\Cookies\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%homepath%\recent\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%homepath%\Local Settings\cookies\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%homepath%\userdata\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%homepath%\Local Settings\History\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%homepath%\Local Settings\Temp\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%homepath%\Local Settings\History\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Cookies\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\Temp\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temp\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Cookies\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\History\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Cookies\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\*.*" >nul
del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\%Username%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\*.*" >nul

cleanmgr /sagerun:99

Echo: Disk Cleanup is now complete.

Rem: Show number of files left on HD after the cleanup.
Echo: Performing File Count, After Cleaning. Please Wait!

for /f "delims=" %%A in ( ' dir /a /s "C:\" ^| find /c /v "" ' ) do set Count2=%%A
set /a deleted=%Count1% - %Count2%
Echo:
Echo:
Echo File Count before cleaning: %Count1% files
Echo:
Echo File count after cleaning: %Count2% files
Echo:
Echo Files
deleted:
%deleted% files
pause

End Copy/Paste on previous line:

There are more ways to clean up HD's, but I'm concerned about the state the tech left you in more than the fact your drive is full.

Note: This particular batch file was developed by DrWho and just stolen with permission by me. LOL

[Xircal]

No disrespect to Ted Myers intended, but I would advise novice users from running batch files of the nature he's recommended. These kind of things are OK for users who build their own machines which I'm sure he does too, but not for somebody who buys an off the shelf PC.

Cleaning up temp files, cookies and the like should only be performed with the utilities Windows includes. Tutorials on how to use them in Windows XP can be found by clicking Start, go to "Help and Support" and then click the link called "Performance and maintenance". I've ringed that in red in the following screenshot.

windows_xp_help_and_support.png

[Medico]

Don't build my PC's, I buy them. I started with a similar batch file written by Fred Langa and posted in The original Langa List back in Win 95 or Win 98 days, not sure which any more. I am a self taught enthusiast. If I can do this others can do this as well.

I have used this batch file updated for whatever version of Windows I use since those days. I presently use this batch file for Win 7 and Win 8 CP. This particular batch file is specifically for Win XP, is easy to use and works exceedingly well. The Disk Cleanup you are pointing toward is really throttled by MS unless you use Sageset to set it free to do a good job of cleaning out temporary files.

These batch files have been discussed many times by many different people in these forums in the Lounge for quite a few years.

[Xircal]

Don't build my PC's, I buy them. I started with a similar batch file written by Fred Langa and posted in The original Langa List back in Win 95 or Win 98 days, not sure which any more. I am a self taught enthusiast. If I can do this others can do this as well.

Not necessarily. While you may have a good understanding of the subject, it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone will.

Most consumers wouldn't even know what a batch file is, let alone what it can do and in the same way you might have a problem learning how to fly an aircraft, most users don't want to get into the intricacies of running custom files when Windows already provides the tools for the job.

[CLiNT]

Let's keep it under control and on topic please gentlemen.

[netty]

wow guys, what a response but you are dealing with a technically unsound old lady. I do keep my p.c. clean and updated.It is a long story, when my previous p.c. packed up, the dealer retrieved my old h/d (lots of info in there) and installed it in the Acer. Out of the blue, 2 weeks ago the damned thing would not boot up, black screen, I tried every possible means to boot up, safe mode etc. nada. That is when I got my first "expert" to have a look. He told me that the mother board had blown. Second expert took my tower away and fitted a new mother board, worked for app. 1 hour and then would not boot Windows, back it went. He installed his own copy of XP and Office (dont like that!) worked at his place and tried it here, again nada. As a last resort he disconnected that old HD and that did the trick except that my Cdrive is full. I tried to download service packs and was told that I did not have the space, checked by right clicking "my computer" and indeed, only a couple of MB's available. That is my sad story, the beaut is coming back on Monday, he is trying to get a second hand HD, not a good idea either. I would have been better off buying a new Desktop, thank you all so much for listening to this dumb broad.

[Medico]

New PC's can be had pretty reasonably now. If you don't need the expansion capability that a desktop offers, a laptop can be a great option. You can get very fast CPU's, large HD's (in access of 500 GBs) with 8 GB Ram for $600 or so. If you do not need quite so much power you can spend even less. These new PC's would most likely run circles around your old PC. Desktop values are getting even better as people are switching to laptops. Take a look.

[netty]

Thanks Ted, it would have been cheaper in the USA to buy a new p/c but not where I live, South Africa. I do have a laptop on loan, at least I could use my mail but I dont like working with them. What I do like is the new HP all in one, no more trailing wires. What is your opinion on those? A friend is going to the USA in September, perhaps he can bring one back for me. My IT did not come to-day, he is getting me a new h/d 30 gb, should be sufficient together with the present one of 40 gb. I will show him your suggestion to silence the fan. Once again, thanks

[jwitalka]

An all in one PC is basically a laptop in a permanent stand which limits your upgrade options. The biggest issue is that when it comes time to buy a new PC, you have to buy a new monitor (or a new all in one or a laptop). If you had a conventional PC with a separate monitor, you only need to buy a new tower. Also if either the monitor or the PC dies, you have lost both.

Jerry

[CLiNT]

The "all in one" PC has gained in popularity somewhat, just like it's MAC counterpart. But don't expect them to be power houses.
They tend to be Small Form Factor, which is not bad if you know what your uses will be and what exactly to expect of them.