Laptop noise

[philtbelfast]

Looking for any ideas.

My dads laptop has been ridiculously loud and overheats easily for quite a while now. Its now got to the extent that he uses little plastic things to lift it off the table its on!

However when I was over the other day I put Ubuntu on the laptop and the noise didn't start. The noise I refer to is the fan working overtime by the way.

However Ubuntu really didn't like his wireless card at all, and I didn't have the time and he isn't computer literate enough to do anything about it. So Windows went back on. Hes running Vista with most of the graphical things turned off to decrease the strain on the PC.

Has anyone got any ideas on how to shut the thing up? Asides from turning it off etc etc

Cheers in advance

[dan_hurst]

If the fan is that noisy it's probably on the way out. Take it to the shop and get it replaced because if it goes when no one is around some more expensive damage could be done.

At least check if the BIOS has shutoff temprature set up.

[KiwiNZ]

If Linux silenced it then it may not be a hardware fault. It maybe a driver issue.
What brand etc is the laptop?
Has it always used Vista?
Has it been updated with patches etc?
Have you checked the Manufacturers web site?

[philtbelfast]

Ideally I dont want to replace the fan as Linux seemed to fix the problem.

KiwiNZ - were drivers did you mean, or jsut drivers in general?

Thanks

[KiwiNZ]

As an example , one of my desktops runs Vista , when I first installed it the video card fans went non-stop at full speed. Very noisy. I installed the latest drivers from Nvidia and , aaahhhh silence.

[50words]

Use compressed air to clean out the vents. Pull off some of the covers to make sure you get it all. Laptops can pick up quite large dust bunnies, which will result in the symptoms you described.

[luvdemheels]

Be glad that you do not have a hp/compaq nx9010. This one has been very loud from beginning.

[mips]

If Linux silenced it then it may not be a hardware fault. It maybe a driver issue.


Linux might have switched the fan of completely which is even worse!

I had this occur on a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo L1310G.
With Dapper the fan worked, with feisty it would not come on at all (oh so quiet) but hangs after overheating, gutsy kernel solved the problem though.

[philtbelfast]

Sorry for taking ages to reply.

Nope the fan wasn't off and the laptop didnt warm up to anywhere near the same levels. The drivers are all up to date and vista is fully upgraded.

Anybody have any other ideas?

Cheers

[gn2]

What make/model is it and exactly what CPU does it have and how old is it?

[lettas]

Check idle processor usage in Vista, the more cpu is used, the more heat is produced.

[agentaaron]

I have the HP NX9010 and mine as well is very loud compared to other notebooks. Mine used to overheat and shut off all the time when I was running windows (so often I had to buy a chill pad for it). Since I switched solely to Ubuntu, it runs much quieter, faster, and has yet to shut off (I stopped using the chill pad) and it has been about 3 months now.

I think alot of it has to do with the demands of the OS?

[philtbelfast]

Hi all,

Basically the mystery is solved. His laptop was an Inspiron 5160 and as such prone to overheating.

Apparently there has been lawsuits in the US and Canada regarding poor design and overheating issues.

Lots of people have had their warrantys extended and we've been in touch with Dell about the same.

Thanks for all your suggestions but I guess it was just a poor laptop.

Cheers