Fan noise - Not constant, yet regular 'beat'

**Voodo chile** · January 19, 2013, 10:30 PM

No performance issues but have lately been hearing a consistent noise i believe to be coming from one of the fans. I havent been able to search for this as i cant really describe it properly

Its not particularly loud yet it can get annoying as it goes back and forth. "1 and 2 and 3 and 4" is how i would describe its pattern.

I did open it up and have it running and listened carefully. It got me to the front of the case to one of the additional casing fans. I don't believe it is cooling a particular component but all i know is that when i stopped it, the noise seemed to go away.

Again it isnt particularly loud, but i am curious as to whether this is actually a serious problem

It isnt the graphics card fan, nor the CPU, nor the side case fan, or the power supply enclosed fan and i can only remember 5 fans in total

EDIT: Sounds like the fan is 'revving' up for about half a second then reverting

**Bolkonsky** · January 19, 2013, 10:42 PM

Probably one of the sleeve bearings is going. Either replace the fan or remove entirely if it's bugging you.

**Magicman2051** · January 19, 2013, 10:42 PM

Its doubtful that it is anything threatening to your systems operation or health, moreso because it is a casing fan (as opposed to something mounted on the CPU or GFX). If its bothering you then I'd suggest cleaning it, and if that doesn't work you could mostly likely replaced it with ease.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Bolk.

**Voodo chile** · February 01, 2013, 11:42 PM

ok computer is

ed yet again. had problems with the computer instantly whenever games were played. main menus were working but as soon as i played them they restarted. monitor would display a no signal message for a few seconds then the entire pc would just restart. eventually this started occuring randomly. now it has got to the stage where the computer will restart normally up to the user accounts screen but instead of that, i am faced with a blank screen. however i can stil move the cursor. same thing happens in safe mode. i am currently under the impression that this may be related to the fans. any starters on what this could be?

**PoleCat** · February 02, 2013, 01:50 AM

Originally Posted by Voodo chile

...Its not particularly loud yet it can get annoying as it goes back and forth. "1 and 2 and 3 and 4" is how i would describe its pattern.

I did open it up and have it running and listened carefully. It got me to the front of the case to one of the additional casing fans. I don't believe it is cooling a particular component but all i know is that when i stopped it, the noise seemed to go away.

EDIT: Sounds like the fan is 'revving' up for about half a second then reverting

Are you sure it's a fan that causing this noise? There is another component at the front of a desktop that could make this noise - a hard drive with a bad arm. That noise you're describing could be a hard drive skipping for whatever reason. And that would explain your current post better than a fan with a failing bearing....

Question - can you get into the Desktop at all in Safe Mode? That's where I think you need to start. If you can't then we'll have to look at ways of saving your data off the drive.

Now don't panic. This is not a complete disaster and you should be able to recover from this. Just tell us what you're able to do on the Desktop and we'll go from there. Good luck!

**Voodo chile** · February 02, 2013, 02:45 PM

yea the monitor displays the usual startup text. i am able to select safe mode,however thats as far as i can get. reguardless of whether i run in safe or normal i am faced with a black screen with a cursor.

**Voodo chile** · February 02, 2013, 03:01 PM

i did a brief search into this hard drive clicking and what we had didnt sound like a defined click, but more of a grunt or rev. if it is to do with the hard drive, then im not too concerned about retrieving lost data. just fyi it is safe to say this computer is used for a minimum of 6hr pr day and a min of 10 during school holidays and weekends. ive always had the suspicion that its been pushed to the max ever since we ve used it.

**PoleCat** · February 02, 2013, 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by Voodo chile

i did a brief search into this hard drive clicking and what we had didnt sound like a defined click, but more of a grunt or rev. if it is to do with the hard drive, then im not too concerned about retrieving lost data. just fyi it is safe to say this computer is used for a minimum of 6hr pr day and a min of 10 during school holidays and weekends. ive always had the suspicion that its been pushed to the max ever since we ve used it.

From what you've posted I'm all but certain the hard drive is affected somehow. Whether hardware failure or software is still up in the air though.

Do you have access to another desktop? You can try plugging your drive into another computer that you know will work and then access your drive through the other systems Window directory. If you do this and can see files then you may be able to pull some files off your old drive and save anything you think is important. There are other better methods but they cost money. Not a whole lot for a DIY kit though.

Let us know what you find. Good luck!

**Bolkonsky** · February 03, 2013, 10:53 AM

If you can, download Ubuntu Drive, boot to that, and you might be able to backup your files.

**Voodo chile** · February 04, 2013, 01:40 PM

Is there another way to find out about the state of the hard drive or diagnose the problem further?

Recovering files is second to getting a workable computer up and running.

**PoleCat** · February 04, 2013, 07:31 PM

Ten things you can do when Windows won't boot. This is an old article about XP but it still stands today. If you have a Windows disc or a recovery disc then that is the best place to start. Good luck!

**Voodo chile** · February 05, 2013, 05:36 PM

Update:

Windows 7 disk wont work. Tried ctrl alt del to bring up something. No response

We've got a laptop on the network and through that, we can access everything stored on the computer

If it helps, the windows 7 animation with the black background still appears.

System restore was also done to a period before this started happening.

EDIT: CTRL ALT DEL done immediately apon startup. Brought to 'CMOS setup utility screen'

Went down to ' PC Health Status'

There were a number of alert settings which as described, would alert you when something was wrong.
Went down the list and enabling the warning alarms.

CPU fan warming - enabled. No sound. Next one on the list
System fan warning - enabled. After saving. A constant sound coming from case.
Regardless of whether this is actually causing my problems, i am pretty certain there is something wrong with this.

**PoleCat** · February 05, 2013, 08:44 PM

Then replace that case fan you first identified then try booting again. You're getting farther in boot than I guessed - something is preventing you from booting and that fan warning is the last clue. Good luck!