Laptop fan goes off an on constantly

[Nick10]

I have an HP dv2911us. Everything is stock in it--haven't changed a thing. When sitting idle on the desktop screen, I can hear the fan turn on and off about every 3 seconds. I'd really like the laptop to not make as much noise. What can I do? Thanks.

[hughv]

It may be getting hot. Look for and clean any dust, especially around the fan intake/exhaust.

[Xlphos]

I think if you go to power saving options you can reduce the CPU usage, this will stop it from getting as hot but will slow it down a bit. I did this on my laptop as my fan made a fair bit of noise too.