When I got back in town last night, I tried turning on my computer (Dell desktop, purchased in 2003). It comes up w/ a message about a problem and asking to open w/ the last known good configuration. I choose that, and it sits there for a few seconds and then cuts back off. No sound comes from the CPU at all. I believe that happened to my isster's machine, and she had to replace the fan. She's busy dealing w/ the death of her husband last week (that's why I was out of town), so I don't want to bug her about it, so I figured I'd ask here. Is there anywhere closer to the 4042 area that Tiger Direct to get a fan? I should be able to replace it myself, right? I think my sister did. How do I know which one to get? There are tons on the Tiger Direct website. Alternatively, can you recommend a good local repair shop I could take it to?
If the CPU fan is not working, the CPU will reach critical temperature and motherboard will cut power if it or the CPU temperature reaches the set shutdown threshold. Sometimes you can just replace the fan but you need to know the size of it (60mm, or 80mm, etc.) Measure from one screw hole to the next. If you cannot just replace the fan, but it instead has to go along with a heatsink, because the fan is a proprietary size, you have to know the brand of the CPU (AMD, or Intel, etc.) and then "socket" type (462, or A, etc.)
Take a dry 2" paint brush and poke the fan to get the dirt loose. Use canned air after that blow out the entire case. If it comes back to life be on the lookout for a new matching fan. Four corner screws and 1 wire plug to remove. Take it with you to Comp USA for a replacement. It's so easy a cave man can do it. If you remove it, take the paint brush to the aluminum heat sink below it.
Look the fan over just to make sure it isn't just plain dirty. I have seen those fans caked with hair and dust to the point they will not turn.
It was not the fan. The clips that hold the CPU in place broke off, so it was not maintaining good contact, and it also had a virus. I found a guy in my office that has a side business, and he took care of it. Cleaned the virus and other junk off, added more memory (went from 256M to 512M LOL!), and told me to turn the tower on its side rather than upright so the CPU makes good contact and doesn't move around. $10 for memory and $40 for all the labor. Yay! And he got me an extra memroy card so I can put it in my sister's computer. I will be starting the search for a new sytem soon, but at least I don't have to rush. This one is fine right now just for web surfing, watching an occasional TV show that I miss, and the occasional Word document.
