PC Makes loud whirring sound. any ideas?

[sutom]

I have an old Intel P3 Evesham PC, and a few days ago when I switched it on it made a loud-ish humming/whirring sound, and continued to make the sound for as long as I had it switched on.

It now does this every time I switch it on, but I have no idea what it's doing or how to stop it. Its never done this for over 3 years and its really annoying.

I'm guessing its something like the hard drive being accessed constantly or another kind of drive making the noise (it aint my dvd drive or cd-rewriter).

I'm afraid my PC will just decide to catch fire or blow up because something is overheating.

I know it kind of vague but does anyone have any ideas of how I can stop it?

[davejm]

It's probably either your processor or power supply fan. Processor fans in particular have a habit of sounding like washing machines after a while.

Start by looking in the machine itself to determine exactly where the noise is coming from. If it's the processor, try and get rid of any dust/dirt collecting on the fan. If that doesn't do the trick then you'll have to get a new fan for it.

If the noise is coming from the power supply then you'll probably need to get a new PSU.

[angel_fear]

Sometimes my power supply fan does that.

The solution: Spray it.
Just buy a Air Duster, it worked for me and will work in most cases unless the problem isn't dust.

[sutom]

thanks for the replies guys, I'll have a look inside and get rid of any dust.

I've only opened it up once before to put in a cd-rw drive and there was like a 2cm layer of dust/fur all along the inside of the case, so I guess thats probably built up again.

Is a vacuum cleaner ok for getting rid of gunk or should I be more careful?

[yashiro]

A can of compressed air is the safest way.

[angel_fear]

Is a vacuum cleaner ok for getting rid of gunk or should I be more careful?

If you can adjust it's power it should be safe.

[The Space Cowboy]

Cold blowing hairdryer pwns dust nicely.

tbh I would have just smacked the **** out of it ;p usually works too

[sutom]

Cold blowing hairdryer pwns dust nicely.

tbh I would have just smacked the **** out of it ;p usually works too

another good tip thanks. I'll give that a go.

I wanna avoid bashing the case around though, I'm scared of hurting it

[chevkoch]

Tom*, did getting rid of dust work out regarding your problem?

I'm asking because my machine makes a sound like it's trying to commit electronic harakiri every time I power it on (very similar to what you described). The noise calms down after 10 minutes or so though. So please tell of your experiences in the dark, cable-entangled depths of your PC.

[sutom]

well, I opened it up and there wasn't much dust overall. I blew out what there was with a hairdryer, and there was some stuck in the fan at the back so I tried to get that out.

basically most of the dust was gone. so i put the case back on and started up and......

....it continued to make the noise!!! ft:

so I really dunno what is going on. I listened close to find out where its coming from but it's really hard to determine.
is it safe to open my case and look while the PC is still on? or is this dangerous?

sorry chevkoch I don't really have a solution

[marcus]

Its never a good idea really, but you should be quite safe opening the side case and listening for where the noise is coming from, just try to avoid touching the components.

The only other thing Id check would be your hard drives, as one of mine was making a occasional whirring noise and high pitched squeak, a simple defrag sorted that out however.

[chevkoch]

Tom*, I know how it feels. Well, I opened up my PC and and powered it on to look & listen where the noise originates from. It seems it's coming from the fan that sits on my processor and not from the harddrive (which I feared was pondering the notion of trying a headcrash).

Pulled the AC plug and tried to remove dust with my vaccum cleaner tamed down to a low sucking level doing my best to not poke any components with that small plastic hoover snout. All closed up and powered on again, you guessed it, the grinding murmurs are still here.

I think I'll remove the fan from the cooler-thing on my processor and buy a new one and replace it, like davejm suggested above.

[FelixofMars]

Its cheap enough to replace a faulty fan, thats your best bet!

[sutom]

k thanks ppl, I'll look into that. It's possible its the fan on my processor then.

most PCs have a fan on the processor right?!
I really should know that myself....

[FelixofMars]

Well for the past five years or so, I can remember when they didnt need one at all!