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CPU fan vs hard drive going

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My personal PC, Compaq Presario 061, Intel Celeron CPU 2.80GHz, Windows XP w/SP2, 521 MB Ram, 112 GB Hard disks, 70 GB free; it sounds like the fan is running more often than not… I got behind the CPU and the fan is indeed running and blowing; however, I have been told that this may signal my hard drive going. All tests indicate the hard drive is operating fine; however, when the fans is running, everything moves in slow motion if at all until the fan stops. Task manager will show CPU at 100% usage and something called ccAPP.exe seems to hog the memory. What can I do about this to determine if indeed my hard drive is going or there is some simple solution? How do I know what each of these tasks is and if they are necessary? I have recently installed Norton 360 and IE 7.0. After getting the same error message each time I close 7.0, I checked Microsoft to see if there was a problem reported or a way to fix…a few different email threads tied 7.0, Norton and the fan. When the fan isn’t running, the PC works great with multiple applications running. Any suggestions would be helpful. I also just installed a Belkin wireless router and have had zero problems with it. I’d be interested in upgrading my hard drive; however, can anyone recommend a book that will teach me about maintenance and installing components?

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Clarifications

In reply to CPU fan vs hard drive going

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Power supply

In reply to CPU fan vs hard drive going

Hi,

My comments aren’t in any particular order, so read them all and try them in an order that seems most logical.

If, as you say, you can feel the fan running or not from the back of the computer, then this is NOT the cpu fan, but the power supply or case fan. To see / feel the cpu fan you would need to open the case.

The slowing down of the computer could be due to a heat buildup, particularly in the cpu, as Intel cpus slow down when they get too hot. Maybe the fan is designed to turn on / off, depending on the temperature. If so then when things get too hot the cpu slows down and the fan starts.

I would open the case, check the cpu heat sink for dust clogging it. This would stop heat removal. Blow any dust out with compressed air, whilst stopping the fan from rotating, as it gennerates electricity which can damage components, or gently use a small brush and a vaccuum cleaner.

Its a bit of a worry that the fan stops & starts, I would expect the fan(s) to run continuously. If it is the PSU fan then I would definitely replace the PSU. (the PSU is hard up against the top of a tower or over to one side in a desktop, with a grill and two AC connectors. The case fan would be in the middle of the back, without any connectors near it).
If it is the PSU fan that stops and starts, then I suspect that it is seized, and when it manages to run a bit it draws excessive power. Check by turning the computer off, then give the fan blades a flick with a tooth pick or similar ( through the grill) The blades should rotate freely.
My experience is that after 3-4 years the PSU fan’s bearing dry out and the fan seizes, thus allowing heat to build up inside the case and also allowing the components in the PSU itself to grossly overheat. Replacement is the only viable option, as the components in the PSU will have been overstressed by the heat and may fail at any time.

Good luck

Herb

Thank you, Herb!!!

In reply to Power supply

Herb, we opened up the side of the CPU as you suggested and we found so much dust it was unbelievable!!! It was amazing to see how much can end up in that case. We vacuumed and got a Q-tip in to get the deepest dust as we didn’t have compressed air on hand. Put the screws back in and started it up… it was slow initially but since we did that, there has not been a sound out of it!!! I can’t thank you enough for your time to explain such a simple task. I forwarded the information to my IT guys at work hoping one day they can pass on your knowledge…I do have another scenario you might be able to assist with…. I checked the Microsoft site to see if anyone else had reported this error message – I see similar but not this exact one… I have removed IE 7.0 and reinstalled it only to have the error pop up each time I close IE…more annoying than anything. Could you think on it and let me know if you’ve run across this? I installed Internet Explorer 7.0 a month or so ago and things were fine. I just also installed Norton 360 . The first attempt was unsuccessful I think because I still had my Defender Pro Virus/Spyware running. I deleted that program then I uninstalled 360 with the Norton removal tool, then I reinstalled. This time I was able to run all applications. When I use Explorer and then close the application, most times I get the following ?internet explorer? message Error: (0x0eedfade) at location 0x7c812a5b has occurred. When I exit this message, another pops up ?runtime error 217 at 02BAFB4A? comes up. I went to the Microsoft site to see if there were any updates or patches for this. An email thread comes up where others report the same messages. Someone mentions turning off Outlook indexing, others say use the Norton removal tool. That flagged me after I used it to remove the program so I could reinstall it. I regularly clean the temporary internet and windows files as well as defrag the disk.

Thanks if you’ve any more great advice to send my way!!

Sorry

In reply to Thank you, Herb!!!

Hi,

I’m glad my suggestion was helpful.

Unfortunately I can’t help you with your IE problem, I use Firefox. Try that instead.

Herb

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