Computer is noisy

marylee

My computer is making such a racket this morning when I switched on. Its looks as if it is going to pack up. Please can I do anything, will buy a new one but want to wait till after Xmas. Thanks.

pchelpman

First back everything up to something else is case it does die on you.

Now...where is the noise coming from? That will help identify the trouble.

Two common answers....

One or more of the cooling fans could be clogged up with dirt and grime. This is faily easy to fix.

If the horrid noise is definitely coming from the hard drive then that disk is, as you say, on its way out. Nothing can be done to fix that.

Best of luck.

mr_fishbulb

Take the case off (make sure you've unplugged the machine first) and have a look at the fans in there. They might be covered in dust, give them a clean and see if that makes a difference.

marylee

It seems OK after I have switched of and turned it on. Could it be the fan or hard drive? Just keeping my fingers crossed, it hang on for a few more weeks.

jjames_3

Most likely a fan. Usually these can be replaced very cheaply (a new CPU fan costs less than £10 for the part, a new power supply (complete with all brand-new fans) between £5 and £30 depending on the type of PC, other fans around the case will cost a couple of pounds each and may be as well just to cut power to them and leave them as-is.

pchelpman

marylee wrote:

It seems OK after I have switched of and turned it on. Could it be the fan or hard drive? Just keeping my fingers crossed, it hang on for a few more weeks.

Hi marylee

Suggest you keep going with your investigations rather than leaving it all to chance.

Take the PC case side(s) off THEN switch on. Use your ears to see if you can really put your finger on where the noise is coming from. Then we'll have more a clue as to what's going wrong and how to fix it.

mr_fishbulb

pchelpman wrote:

see if you can really put your finger on where the noise is coming from.

Except if it is a spinning fan. don't put your finger on that - it can hurt

jjames_3

That's what you've got a screwdriver for

Actually in all seriousness shoving screwdrivers in to stop fans is often the best way of working out which one is duff.