Tower

[Guest]

I'm not really sure how to ask this question, si i hope this is
understandable. I am running windowsxp and the computer is only about 7
months old. Starting this past week every oncein a while a sound will come
from my tower that almost sounds like some kind of alarm. When this is
happeneing my computer will totally be unusable and I have to unplug the
computer. after that everything works just fine, until it happens again.One
of my friends said it could be the fan because i leave it on all the time,
but so do other people i know, so why would i have this problem? Any help
would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jimvernon2003]

It could be heat related. If a system overheats, it usually will lock
up. You may want to get a new fan for your processor, or just start
turning it off when you aren't using it. Also, it could be due to dust
build up inside.

 

[bxf]

I'm not really sure how to ask this question, si i hope this is
understandable. I am running windowsxp and the computer is only about 7
months old. Starting this past week every oncein a while a sound will come
from my tower that almost sounds like some kind of alarm. When this is
happeneing my computer will totally be unusable and I have to unplug the
computer. after that everything works just fine, until it happens again.One
of my friends said it could be the fan because i leave it on all the time,
but so do other people i know, so why would i have this problem? Any help
would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, it could be due to the processor overheating. You may want to look
into some utilities that enable you to monitor the temperature. I'm
not sure, but I think SiSoft Sandra reports system temperature. Some
tools show an icon in the Systray, showing the temperature
continuously.

Depending on your configuration, there may even be some tools that
enable you to control the temperature by cutting back on CPU cycles, or
something like that. However, this is not the correct solution. If the
problem is indeed temperature related, you need to determine the cause
(bad fan, too much dust, etc.). You can also open up the computer case
and see if the increased exposure to air makes a difference.