help with Dell vostro 200

luvvlyjubbly

I've had this PC for about 2 and a half years and have been fairly pleased with it, it is in constant use and switched on most of the day. Now it has started making a whirring noise and freezing slightly, the whirring is getting quuite bad now.....from googling as I'm not tecchie minded it looks like the hard drive is about to pack up......my question is, can the hardrive be replaced, what can i expect to pay (roughly) for somone else to do it....or is it not worth repairing....it's starting to drive me insane so something has to be done.

Thanks in advance.

Hammyman

Its probably the CPU fan starting to go. Parts are from £7-£20 and if you are paying someone, it should be the minimum labour charge they charge as its a 10 minute job.

However you might just find it is blocked up with fluff (as in the picture below of the heatsink with the fan removed) and loosening the fluff with a paintbrush and using a vacuum cleaner to suck it out will sort it.

tibbyuk

A whirring noise will be a fan of some sort, a more clicking noise will be the HDD. It's hard to describe how to tell in text!

If you are at all concerned about it being the HDD though, I would backup your important files now. After doing this, your best bet will be to take it to a local reputable computer shop to do the replacement of the part for you, as laptop upgrades are quite fiddily.

One quick Q though, are you sure it wasn't just a case of the laptop being very hot due to overuse and/or a hot room? This would cause the fan to speed up in some laptops.

luvvlyjubbly

i've just given a quick blast with the hoover,...so far so good....a lot quieter but think will benefit from a better clean.....thanks for your help

John_Gray

Better to take it outside, if the weather is dry, and blast the insides everywhere with a can of compressed air. It doesn't then matter where the dust goes (but stay upwind...!)