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Screen flickering, fan working at max, slow CPU!

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15 replies

by oskar_selin

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I have a problem. When my computer has been on for some time one of the fans starts working at max, the CPU rise to 90-100% and my screen flickers for a moment with hundreds of lines over the screen. Note that the flickering goes away after some seconds and that its only the left fan thats working, the right seems to be dead.

When i restart the computer the flickering, slow CPU and crazy fan is gone but instead both of the fans are dead and the computer shuts down from overheating.

I first thought i had a trojan so i removed everything, reinstalled vista and its still here. And another thing to mention, when i open up the "activity, process window" i can see that my CPU is 100% but there is no process to take all that power!

Thanks alot for any help,
/Oskar

15 replies

by computercookie

"CPU rise to 90-100%", what matters is why!

You need to identify what applications or processes are consuming this amount of memory.

I suggest you run MSCONFIG and 'untick' all the crap for starters.

This means Office, Adobe, printers, message programs, all Apple, Real, any other crap, post back if you need to ask a question.

by oskar_selin

That was almost one of the first things i tried, allready before the reboot. By MSCONFIG that is Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then the window that shows all the processes? In that window ,however, i canceled everything and still the CPU was at 100%. Whatever it is it wont show up in the process overwiev window.

/Oskar

by thumbsup2

By MSCONFIG, Cookie is talking about Start -> Run -> MSCONFIG. It's an application that allows you to "turn off" all applications which automatically start when you boot the computer. They're all listed under the Start Up tab. MSCONFIG has nothing to do with the task manager you see when pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL.

by oh smeg

And then not running on the restart.

Open BIOS and look at the System Temps to see what is actually happening here. If you have a NB make sure that there are no loose coverings on the desk/table/whatever it's on that can block the air intake or better still use a Cool Pad to prevent overheating and junk getting sucked in.

If you have a Desktop open the case and clean it out and not only the crap in the bottom of the case but the CPU heat sink as well. Check the fans for function while you are in there as ell. Just remember to stop any fans from spinning as you clean things out as they can generate electricity which will destroy the M'Board.

Also in the Desktop Computer look at the Fan on the Graphic Processor/Video Card and make sure that it hasn't failed.

If you care to post back with the Make & Model of your computer we will be able to provide information that will be a starting point at the very least if not an actual cure but without knowing what hardware is involved here it's very hard to suggest anything except Wiping the HDD and installing Vista on a New Clean Unformatted HDD. Even then if this is a Hardware issue reinstalling Vista will do nothing to cure it and may not even be possible depending on what if anything is going wrong.

Col

by oskar_selin

Thanks alot for the fast replies! Since im not so professional could you please make these things clear.. ;D :

How do i open BIOS, and what is the System Temps? And then NB, what does that stand for?

Im owning a dell inspiron 9400 (laptop) and i recently tried to remove the plastic "cover" so that i could clean the dead fan, though i removed most of the screws i couldnt get it off!

Coolpad... i guess thats these plastic things with ice in them, but its really uncomfortable having to change them and having the laptop far over the table. (lol. yes ive tried that, one desperate time i even used a package of frozen peas!)

Desktop computer, the unitmanager? where you see a list of all the components?..

I do care, how do i post back with Make & Model?

Sorry, but im a 16y old swedish guy and im not master at english computer components yet! Thanks for being patient with me XD.

/Oskar, Sweden

by rob miners

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins9400/en/sm/index.htm

Open the laptop case, so you can access the CPU fan and the heatsink.
Carefully disconnect the fan cables on the system board and remove the fan. If the fan thows resistence when it spins replace the fan.
Clean the fan and the heatsink with compressed air.
I would also recommend removing old thermal grease from the CPU and applying new grease for better heat conductivity. ;)

Let us know how you get on.

by rob miners

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins9400/en/sm/index.htm

Open the laptop case, so you can access the CPU fan and the heatsink.
Carefully disconnect the fan cables on the system board and remove the fan. If the fan shows resistence when it spins replace the fan.
Clean the fan and the heatsink with compressed air.
I would also recommend removing old thermal grease from the CPU and applying new grease for better heat conductivity. ;)

Let us know how you get on. :)

by oh smeg

When the Dell Logo is on the Screen. It may be different on your NB but it is always shown on the screen generally at the bottom on the left hand side something along the lines of Press Key Whatever to enter setup.

This is the Basic Input Output System otherwise called BIOS. In this are the system parameters of how much RAM, what CPU what HDD and so on. There is a section in there that shows how hot things are and how fast fans are running.

NB stands for Note Book what all portable computers that you pickup and carry around are called.

I believe that TB has listed how to open the NB up in another post but if this is Under Guarantee you should return it to the Dell Service Agent for repairs. You will however need to backup the HDD as the first thing that is done here is to reinstall the Factory OS and Software which destroys your Data & Settings.

A Cool Pad is a structure that sits under the NB and draws air through itself sucking all the dust and other rubbish away from the NB's Air Intake. If you open the link here you can look at a picture and description of one.

http://tinyurl.com/ny8zn

This doesn't involve sticking anything but the device under the NB and frozen Food isn't suitable because th Plastic Packet blocks the Air Intake making the CPU get hotter and hotter till the system shuts down in the overheat condition.

A Desktop computer is a computer that isn't a Note Book one that now days has a Tower, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers and so on. I think you get that idea there. These are opened differently to a NB and are easier to work on and are not stolen anywhere near as much as NB's are.

The Make and Model of this unit is a Dell Inspiron 9400 Which tell us all this is a NB not a Desktop which you didn't in the original post so we had to guess as we do not know what you have.

So when you open the Task Manager or whatever it's called in Vista have you looked at the running Processes and see which one is using all the CPU Capacity?

If the fans are stopping it sounds as if the NB has either gone into Power Saving and not restarted properly or you have a major hardware problem. One of the Fans not working needs attention [b]NOW[/b] to prevent the Heat destroying the Computers Electronic Components that are part of the Circuit Board inside the case called a Mother Board. When this fails and you are paying for the repair it's cheaper to buy a new one than pay for the repair and then you get a guarantee with the new one and maybe nothing at all with a new M'Board.

Col

by oskar_selin

I went to nvidias website and tryed to install the update for my graphics card. But after i located and downloaded the appropriate file, it said that there wasent any drivers for my hardware... that is really mysterious since my card was on the list for the file...
Ge Force Go 7900 GS
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_175.16_whql.html

Dunno if this is important, thought better safe then sorry!
/oskar

by oh smeg

They make your Computer so they have to have the drivers for it. All the Drivers for your Dell Inspiron 9400 are located here

http://tinyurl.com/5q9w3p

As the one that you downloaded wouldn't install you got the wrong one Dell has 9 Possible Drivers Listed but some are for Aver Media and Lumanate which are Video Capture Cards so look at the ATI, Intel and Nvidia ones as the most likely ones fitted to your NB.

I would really be looking at the Hardware problems first as Heat kills NB's faster than anything else the cooler that you can keep them the longer they last. With a dead fan the unit has to get hotter than it was designed to run and this shortens the life of the unit.

Col

by oskar_selin

The things listed in MSCONFIG is all the things that will start when i log into my computer so these are the same things that will be eventually listed in the task manager? So if i shut everything in the task manager off i still get the same effect as unticking every option in MSCONFIG.

Anyway when i untick all things still the problem is there and the flickeing comes up and stays for a much longer time...

/Oskar

by oh smeg

When you run MSCONFIG you get to see everything that starts when Windows Starts not what is currently running. What can happen is that something starts and then shuts down incorrectly causing the CPU to use Clock Cycles attempting to clear it up but because the process has stopped it will not be displayed in the Running Processes. Also when you untick these Processes or stop then it only applies now and any changes that you make here are forgotten when you reboot next time so by shutting things down now you do nothing to stop them restarting when you next start up the computer.
Left Click on Start, then left click on Run in the Pop Up Menu and Type into the Run Box when it opens [b]MSCONFIG[/b] then follow the above directions to see what is actually starting up when you open Windows.

Col

by oskar_selin

After cleaning out some old dust from the fans they both work perfectly well as with everything else! I think that after awile the graphics card got overheated and therefore the flimmering and slow CPU (heat mens reduced speed) and somehow the other fan tried to compensate for the broken one!

Anyway BIG THANKS! to everyone who helped me!!! :D I will recommend you to my friends and family if they ever get any problems!
CHEERS!!!
/Oskar

by oh smeg

It would not suck in anywhere near as much dust and crud and the NB would remain much cooler and last a lot longer.

Even the battery will last longer and to be quite honest I never sell a new NB without a Cool Pad. If that don't use it any guarantee work takes longer as I don'[t try to fix it on the spot and test everything very hard till I'm sure that there are no other problems. Personally I'm yet to have a problem with a new NB with a Cool Pad that I sell but I'm only a small dealer so there are only a few hundred this year so far.

But it's your call you only need to know that as the Cool Pads suck air under the NB and out the bottom onto the Desk they suck all the big bits of dust and other rubbish away from the air intakes of the NB and it stays clean and cool.

Col

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