buzzing noise and autorestart with cold boot

[jennikj]

On Oct. 11, I started my computer and it made an odd buzzing noise, and would
get to the desktop and then restart itself. After it did this a couple of
times, the computer finally booted all the way and was then fine. Once the
computer is warmed up, I can restart without the noise and with no auto
restart; however, if I turn the computer off or leave it on stand by for more
than half an hour, it repeats the problem. I saw something on another website
that said to use a boot delay, but it didn't say how to do it...any ideas if
that is the correct solution, or is my hard drive going bad? Thanks!

 

[V Green]

Possible failing cheesy sleeve-bearing fan.

Check all of them, CPU, PSU (may be more than one), video card
after letting the box sit all nite and get cool.

 

[JS]

Take the cover off and check the CPU fan and other fans for the buzz. Also
if badly covered with dust, clean it.

JS

 

[jennikj]

I should have put that in my first post...I did take off the cover and
checked/cleaned the fans on Thursday. Took the cover off again today and then
started it up to see where buzz was coming from and although it's hard to
tell for sure, it looked to me like it was coming from the hard drive, which
is why I thought it might be going bad. I also ran virus scan, adware scan
and spyware scan; no problems, and ran a defrag.

 

[JS]

Try HD Tune, provides drive info and has an option to test your drive.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Also SpeedFan has an online analysis feature for hard drives.
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

JS

 

[jennikj]

Thank you JS...I downloaded HD Tune, and the health showed all ok and error
scan no damage. Temp got up to about 51 C while running the program but went
down to 40 C after it was done. I looked at SpeedFan but it looked more
complicated than I would be able to do. I'm afraid I'll change something I
shouldn't...

Try HD Tune, provides drive info and has an option to test your drive.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Also SpeedFan has an online analysis feature for hard drives.
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

JS

I should have put that in my first post...I did take off the cover and
checked/cleaned the fans on Thursday. Took the cover off again today and

[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]

 

[HEMI-Powered]

JS added these comments in the current discussion du jour ...

Take the cover off and check the CPU fan and other fans for
the buzz. Also if badly covered with dust, clean it.

I thought of the CPU fan as well, especially because I had it go
bad. Seems, though, that a failing CPU fan would more manifest
itself via sudden shut-downs when hot due to the BIOS shutting down
when the temp goes above the threshold. Still, taking the case off
and looking at/cleaning ALL the fans is very good advice. In my
case, the noise sounded like one of the other fans running with
blades out-of-balance and literally vibrating the case, but the
others were all fine. Fortunately for me, I was able to order a new
one before anything bad happened.

 

[HEMI-Powered]

jennikj added these comments in the current discussion du jour
....

I should have put that in my first post...I did take off the
cover and checked/cleaned the fans on Thursday. Took the cover
off again today and then started it up to see where buzz was
coming from and although it's hard to tell for sure, it looked
to me like it was coming from the hard drive, which is why I
thought it might be going bad. I also ran virus scan, adware
scan and spyware scan; no problems, and ran a defrag.

One way to determine which fan is failing by slowing down and/or is
out-of-balance is to GENTLY push on the rotating axle with your
index finger so as to slow it down but without touching the blades.
If you're sucessful, you will quickly find the bad fan. Now, if the
issue is that one fan is running out-of-balance for any reason, it
may turn out that this little idea won't help because the noise is
actually coming from the case itself vibrating. Be sure NOT to
touch the blades of the fans, you risk breaking one which will
cause you even more grief.

Good luck!

 

[HEMI-Powered]

JS added these comments in the current discussion du jour ...

Try HD Tune, provides drive info and has an option to test
your drive. http://www.hdtune.com/

Also SpeedFan has an online analysis feature for hard drives.
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

The OP didn't say, but the final diagnosis on my bad CPU fan was
the Windows app that my Asus motherboard people have that shows
both the speed of each fan and the temp of what it is
safeguarding. It was immediately apparent that the CPU fan was
running at less than half-speed and causing a heat rise. Until I
got a new one, if the heat got anywhere near the threshold, I
just shut the old girl down. As most people know, and I think the
OP does as well, if the CPU fan does die or is disconnected for
any reason, the CPU will very quickly overheat. Even if the BIOS
is set to shut down fast, damage to a very expensive component is
possible.

 

[HEMI-Powered]

jennikj added these comments in the current discussion du jour
....

Thank you JS...I downloaded HD Tune, and the health showed all
ok and error scan no damage. Temp got up to about 51 C while
running the program but went down to 40 C after it was done. I
looked at SpeedFan but it looked more complicated than I would
be able to do. I'm afraid I'll change something I shouldn't...

51C is getting pretty warm but proably won't damage anything. If
it gets into the 53-55 range, trouble is coming. I assume from
your comments that the utility didn't show any fan running below
its normal speed, which may lead you to conclude that somehow,
someway, a blade on one of the fans is bent/broken a little and
the thing is running out-of-balance. Hard to imagine how that
might happen unless a piece of crud inside a dirty case just fell
on it whilst it was spinning at high speed. Again, my suggestion
to GENTLY put your index finger on the axle; if it is an out-of-
balance fan rather than one that has slowed down, you may be able
to feel it. And, perhaps then you'll know where to look. The CPU
fan is by far the most difficult to replace as it is attached
pretty firmly, needs special heat "grease" and can be difficult
to unattach without bending your mobo enough to crack a trace. My
nephew, who used to be my tech but is out of that business now,
spent quite some time carefully replacing mine. Depending on your
diagnosis, you may want to have this done professionally if
you're at all uncomfortable. A big bucks repair may save you a
far bigger repair/replacement cost or even save an accidental
destruction of an otherwise well-working PC.

Again, good luck in your detective work.

Try HD Tune, provides drive info and has an option to test
your drive. http://www.hdtune.com/

Also SpeedFan has an online analysis feature for hard drives.
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

JS

I should have put that in my first post...I did take off the
cover and checked/cleaned the fans on Thursday. Took the
cover off again today and [quoted text clipped - 9 lines]

JS

 

[HEMI-Powered]

V Green added these comments in the current discussion du jour
....

Possible failing cheesy sleeve-bearing fan.

Yes, I think my brain is going soft! <grin> I thought of dirt and I
thought of a bent/broken blade and I thought of a fan beginning to
die, but you are so right, it could be a cheap bearing that is now
running out-of-balance. Good suggestion!

 

[jennikj via WindowsKB.com]

Thank you all so much for your help! I just started the comp after it sat
overnight, and again it had several restarts; I talked to my mom and she
offered to take me to Best Buy to have them look at it hopefully this week. I
think I'll let them decide if it is a bent/damaged fan or something else. I
really don't want to try touching the fan while it is running because I'm
afraid that if it is not broken or damaged, my touching it will break it...
especially with the run of bad luck I've had the last month! Again, thank you
all for the help; I really appreciate it!

 

[HEMI-Powered]

jennikj via WindowsKB.com added these comments in the current
discussion du jour ...

Thank you all so much for your help! I just started the comp
after it sat overnight, and again it had several restarts; I
talked to my mom and she offered to take me to Best Buy to
have them look at it hopefully this week. I think I'll let
them decide if it is a bent/damaged fan or something else. I
really don't want to try touching the fan while it is running
because I'm afraid that if it is not broken or damaged, my
touching it will break it... especially with the run of bad
luck I've had the last month! Again, thank you all for the
help; I really appreciate it!

You're most welcome. I think you're being both mature and wise
about this. I am not a HW person at all, I am much more comfortable
with SW. So, when something goes wrong with my HW, rather than ME
making thing worse, I get help. Good luck and try to have as good a
weekend as you can.

 

[JS]

Never touch the fan when it is running, you could injure your hand !

JS

 

[V Green]

Thank you all so much for your help! I just started the comp after it sat
overnight, and again it had several restarts; I talked to my mom and she
offered to take me to Best Buy to have them look at it hopefully this week. I
think I'll let them decide if it is a bent/damaged fan or something else. I
really don't want to try touching the fan while it is running because I'm
afraid that if it is not broken or damaged, my touching it will break it...
especially with the run of bad luck I've had the last month! Again, thank you
all for the help; I really appreciate it!

Be sure to backup all your data from the box before
you take it in. There's a reason that repair places have
written policies regarding data loss during a repair...

 

[JS]

And if for some reason they decide that the hard drive needs replacing, ask
for your old drive back, do not let them keep it, especially if you have any
sensitive data on it!

JS

 

[jennikj via WindowsKB.com]

I have sent all of my important emails to a yahoo account, and otherwise the
only other thing I really wanted to save was my Sims 2 downloads ) so I
zipped them and put them on a cd...I'll actually be glad to have my internet
favorites list wiped out, as I've been meaning to get around to cleaning
those out anyhow. We will be calling around today to find someone to look at
it. And thanks for the tip about keeping the old drive if that is what needs
replacing! I guess I might not have thought of that. Hopefully I will be back
soon and can tell you all what was wrong. Take care!

Jen

 

[JS]

Also on that hard drive are your Windows key code and product key codes for
other applications, it would be a good idea to verify that you can locate
these key codes for all the software you have installed. Below are some
tools that can scan your PC and report back these product keys.

Belarc Advisor: http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
(Belarc does a good job of providing a wealth of information)
Also: http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml
and: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

Note: Also check the side of your PC case or bottom of the laptop for the
presence of an
OEM key code for Windows XP. If there is a sticker with the code it will
most likely not
match what is displayed by the utilities mentioned above as OEMs such as
Dell use an internal
key code when they build your PC.

The key code on the sticker is for use with your Windows CD that hopefully
came with your PC.

JS