PC Problem - Help Me Out!

So ever since the other week, I've been having a major problem with my PC, and I'm no good with fixing computers >.<#

What's happening is my computer is turning on as normal, but is extremely loud. It shouts at me for 10 seconds, then turns off. Nothing else happens. nothing on the screen or anything ;;

I've read it could be a problem with the boot something or other, but I don't know anything about this, I'm just looking for some opinions.

Thanks in advance~

If same computer you typed fast.

um.. yeah, that makes sense to me o.O

Assuming the noise is more of a loud grinding noise- then it seems like the cooling fan is broken and the computer is auto-shutting off to prevent itself from overheating.

But, since it doesn't seem to boot all the way?- there could be problem with the hard-drive.

Hard to tell without knowing what the noise sounds like exactly and right at what point it is turning off.

By shout do you mean a series of beeps?

no beebs at all, just the fan being loud

If the computer shuts off and you hear an angry fan it could be your processors fan. If your processor gets too hot your computer shuts down. If your processor fan isnt working your processor gets too hot.

It could also be your graphics card fan making your graphics card fail which would make your computer shut down.

Course, what Operating System are you using? Which version of Windows?

Open the computer and figure out where the sound is coming from.

Overheating probably, if it's the fan and not the HDD spinning crazy-like.

If you overclocked your computer, return the settings to their defaults.

Definatly coming from the CPU fan, me and my brother opened it up and found that out first thing.
And I'm running Vista

I don't know what overclocked means, and i can't get onto my pc so i cant change any settings ;;

Ok so get a new fan that is made to sit on top of your specific processor. Make sure you get the thermal adhesive. Don't put a ton on, just enough that it is spread evenly between cpu and fan.

Since you are new at this, pay close attention to where you plug the fan in. It's pretty simple. Not too many places to plug it in. Also be carefull not to push a screwdriver through your motherboard as you remove or put on the fan.

It's also ok to log out & open and clean your pc every now and then. :D

If its the fan its gunna have to wait a while as moneys short atm, sick of playing on xbox ;; I took the fan off earlier to clean underneath it, was full of dust, so fitting a new one wouldnt be a problem.

Thanks for the advice everyone, just hoping someone pops up with an ultimate easy fix ;;

Just as others have stated, this is a telltale sign of your CPU hitting the thermal threshold for emergency shutdown. Usually set around 90C. Be careful, as depending on your thermal build of the Processor, as little as 80C for any prolonged duration can cause permanent hardware damage.

Likely you will need to clean the inside of your PC and probably replace the CPU fan. If you have a liquid cooling system, it gets a little more intricate than that. As you have to worry about fluid levels (About once every 4-5months if you use Distilled Water, about once a year if you use special coolants designed specifically for LCU's)

After (or if) you successfully resolve your issue, I HIGHLY suggested finding and downloading a monitor program called Everest. (Everest home edition is free). It lets you monitor all your PC vitals that are usually only available on the Bios screen, allowing you to check idle and load temperatures and identify when a Problem starts to emerge, rather than when it becomes catastrophic.

Good luck to ya, don't worry too much, PC's aren't as hard to work on as the seem, the biggest pointer I can give you when you crack it open, is don't stand on carpet, and touch the outside of the metal case before putting your hands inside. (This discharges static, which if discharged on a vital component, rather than the insulating case, WILL instantly destroy whatever component was hit)

CPU fans don't run too much. Just make sure you get the proper dimensions. Replacing only the fan is quit an easy fix. You may not need to reapply any more thermal compound or replace the heatsink, if it is just the fan, you're lookin at about a 5minute job, assuming you don't have thumbscrews.

It's a really basic PC, so it isn't liquid cooled or anything complicated like that, just looking at it right now i can see how it all connects and works so if thats the problem it seems an easy enough fix.

remembering when it first happened though, me and my brother took the fan off and the CPU ran without the fan, would this indicate that it is indeed a fan problem and not a CPU/RAM/MOBO/Whatever else problem?

as for stepping on carpet, only the stairs in my house have carpet on them :3

If the CPU fan isn't functioning properly the PC won't be able to pass P.O.S.T. (Power On Self Test). Which is why it started without the fan on it. Replace the fan and it will be fine.

Fans are specific to processor socket #'s. Make sure you get one to fit your socket #.

Also, running the PC without a CPU fan is good way to make your processor a paperwieght.

ok, so i have a few old PCs lying around. if the fan would fit in the same place fine would it be okay to use? or would it have problems?

thanks for the replys

You need to look up the model numbers of the motherboards for their Socket #'s. If the sockets are the same they are interchangeable.

This information is correct. It sounds to me as if you have a malfunction in your CPU or GPU chip. It could be fried because you left your computer on for long periods of time, or it got electrocuted by some unfortunate circumstance.

this is the problem i see all over the internet whilst trying to find out about it, nobody actually knows what the problem is ;;

Without having the knowledge to figure out the problem yourself, its not very easy for others that can't see/hear what the PC is doing. From your replies, its shutting down before POST can complete. Fan is the most common issue.

As far as what Willoflame stated, replacing the fan would be the first step. He won't be able to tell if anything else is damaged until a working fan is in place, unless you have another PC the processor or vid card (assuming its not onboard) can be tested in.

How is the CPU getting that hot that fast? Even without a fan it shouldn't be getting to 80-90c before a boot up.

Sounds to me like you have a fan issue (due to the grinding) and maybe boot problem due to a dodgy HDD

Depends on the voltage, older AMD processors can heat up enough to melt the socket their fitted into, Intel's have had an auto-shutdown during intense heat for a long time now.

How old is this computer? They can't run indefinately you know... No matter how much care you give them. Smoking around them really reduces their life too..

And if it's been suffering from an overheating problem, it may already be fried, if that's the case, replacing the cooling system isn't going to make a difference.

There's an easy way to test if it's a heating problem, crack open the case and get a desk fan and point it towards your processor, if the problem ceases, it's a cooling problem, if not, the fault lies elsewhere.

Also if the computer is a few or even just 1 year old (depending on model) the thermal paste probably needs to be replaced, most companies don't even use good quality thermal paste, if you need the thermal paste, look for Artic Silver 5, best ***hands down.

without the fan the cpu carries on, im no expert so im not sure if that makes a difference, but to me that would tell me a fan problem, but again like i said i know hardly anything about hardware

I have an Intel if it means anything o.o

Won't be the graphics card. That failing would not force your PC to shut down, it'd just give you a blank screen. Unless the fault itself was directly causing a side effect to the processor or motherboard (which is highly unlikely.)

Since it's shouting at you when you turn it on, we can at least narrow the problem down to one of the fans. This means it could be overheating (which would shut the PC down to stop your processor cooking, basically) or your power unit. Hard to figure out which one it is without being able to keep the PC on for awhile. What you could do is open the side and take the cover off and get a couple of desktop fans and point them inside. Put them in a low setting so it's only a faint breeze and have several aiming at the processor. Open the windows too and get a through draught going.

This may give you more time to look at the boot settings or something as the CPU will still overheat, just not as quickly. All you might need is a couple more seconds after all.

Although, this might be far out. I can't imagine a CPU overheating in <10 seconds, especially from a fresh (PC's been off for a few hours) boot up. Makes me inclined to swing towards power fault.

And if it's the power unit you're ***, and you'll have to replace it. There's no fixing them. They're not too expensive nowadays anyway depending on the model. It's more or less certain to be something with the fan though. If it's shouting, make sure they're all connected properly and secure. A fan rattling against something it otherwise shouldn't would seem out of place and untoward; and not to mention loud.

The computer is about 3 years old i think, it wasnt an amazing computer when it was bought, it was given to my by my brother so i dont know what it used to be like. ill test stuff out more tomorrow, its getting too late over here now to go bouncing things around :P

Its extremely unlikely unless there's a major problem with your power supply (as in supplying way too much juice) that you're hitting the temperature threshold in 10 seconds.

Your computer should beep when it turns on. Its a diagnostic tool called POST and should work unless the PC is completely dead (or I guess your mobo speakers could blow but I've never seen that). Next time you boot it pay close attention to any beeps coming from the case. If the PC is enclosed in a desk, take it out to hear the beeps more clearly. POST codes vary by manufacturer.

Another way to test and see if its a thermal issue is to enter your BIOS (which you access pre-operating system) and just kind of sit there for a while. Some BIOS even have a thermometer included. If the PC cuts off after a short time, as before, then you can safely conclude its an overheating issue. Most BIOS can be accessed by tapping F2 as you're turning on your computer. If you do it too quickly your system will think you have a defective keyboard, so keep it about once per second or so.

Either way, if you've got a noisy fan I'd suggest replacing it. You can get a new CPU fan dirt cheap. There are also some excellent CPU cooling options out there if you want to pay a little more. www.newegg.com is a good spot to check, or www.pricewatch.com. As was suggested by a previous poster, if you decide to replace your heat sink (the metal thingie the fan was attatched to) you'll probably want to grab a tube of thermal paste to go with it.

If your computer doesn't shut down while sitting around in BIOS, I'd suggest downloading, burning and popping in an Ubuntu Live CD. Ubuntu is a version of Linux, totally free operating system (no illegal piracy involved). You can use the Ubuntu Live CD to boot to a sort of virtual operating system hosted in your RAM. You can surf the web and even install programs into the virtual OS and everything (though note that since it is a virtual OS, it'll go away when you reboot). It will make no changes to your computer unless you manually mount your hard drive. If that works, then you may simply have a problem with Vista or (as other posters have suggested) a faulty hard drive. If it is the hard drive, POST should be able to communicate that to you.

If you decide you like Ubuntu you can install it along side Vista without formatting your computer using the partition editor (included on the disk) after defragmenting your hard drive in Windows.

Have you installed any new hardware or software lately? Any updates to Vista? Any new drivers for existing hardware? Finally, did the fan start getting noisey when this happened or was it already loud?

It may seem weird, but the thing that fixed my computer when I had a similar problem, was just disconnecting the main fan and taking it out. I left my computer's case open during boot, and it ran fine.

To this day, I still didn't reconnect the fan or close the case again. Which probably isn't good for my computer. Regardless, it still works and I'm getting a new laptop soon so, idk.

it does definitely sound like the processor heatsink/fan. your best bet would be to pick one up @ a local fry's electronics, microcenter, or best buy. install it and just see if any difference. unfortunately there just is no equipment to strap onto a cpu fan and test.. mostly all computer hardware problems will come down to a process of elimination of basic troubleshooting, which is usually just testing parts with known working parts.

you can pick up after market heatsinks/fans anywhere between 20-150 depending on A what kind of processor socket it is being fitted on, and B how much your willing to spend. you can also usually pick up stock fans FROM the company too (or ebay i recommend for price), but that will be time for shipping of course. people can argue all they want, but for an average computer user an aftermarket budget fan will be the same exact thing as a stock.

basically youll just go to the store, find a sales associate in the computer/electronics department, and say your looking for a computer processor heatsinc/fan. fortunately the heatsincfan combos are so universal now you wont have to worry about the model/socket much, just figure out if its intel or amd at least. follow the instructions popping it in of course, and fire her up. if your still getting same problems as before you at least know its not the heatsinc/fan, and if it works.. well you self taught yourself a lil bit about diagnosing/troubleshooting computer hardware first hand, and it worked.. so win win

most places have ok return policies on anything other than actual cpus too.. so, if its NOT the fan/heatsinc, just return it <.>.

also should mention its nearly impossible to find JUST the fans with out the heatsinc.. so dont bother trying, you wouldnt save much anyway if you did find em.