Member Avatar for sage08

hi,

My pc fan will sometimes give a loud whirl at startup and the screen will subsequently freezes after Windows is launched. This happens frequently but not always. I've ran defragment, fixed registry and checked the fan to no success. I'm at a loss as to how to fix this thing. Appreciate your advise.

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has pointed toward temperature/sensor troubleshooting and has already done some basic checks. The next approach is to isolate whether this is a hardware problem (cooling, power, motherboard) or a software/driver issue. Do the isolation tests first so later steps save time and avoid unnecessary parts swaps.

Try these reproducible checks in this order:

  1. Boot from a clean external environment (Linux live USB or Windows PE). If the system still freezes, that strongly implicates hardware. If it runs fine there but fails when Windows loads, suspect drivers or software.
  2. Boot Windows in Safe Mode. Stability there usually means a driver (video or chipset) or service loaded by normal boot is at fault. Update or roll back the graphics and motherboard chipset drivers accordingly.
  3. If hardware is implicated, power down and run a minimal-hardware POST: one stick of RAM, integrated video (if available), and only the boot drive. Swap or remove nonessential PCI/USB devices.

Hardware-focused checks and fixes:

  • Confirm the CPU fan is plugged into the CPU fan header and that the connector is solid; an incorrect header or intermittent contact can cause erratic fan behavior and throttling.
  • Inspect and clean the heatsink/fan assembly and radiator fins; replace dried thermal paste and reseat the heatsink if mounting looks loose.
  • Substitute a known-good fan or temporarily use a spare fan to see if the whirl/behavior stops. Fans and bearings fail intermittently.
  • If symptoms persist, test with a known-good power supply or measure PSU rails; unstable voltages can produce startup surges and freezes.

Run MemTest86 and a SMART disk check if instability continues. Update the motherboard BIOS/chipset only after confirming it is not an immediate hardware fault. Take ESD precautions when touching the CPU/heatsink, and replace the cheapest parts first (fan) before more expensive swaps.

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Member Avatar for dcc

Is this the case fan or the one on the CPU heat sink?

Member Avatar for sage08

Is this the case fan or the one on the CPU heat sink?

It's the one at the system board, i suppose the CPU heat sink.. thks in advance.

Member Avatar for dcc

If you can access the BIOS check the temperature of the CPU. If you don't know how to access the BIOS you could download Everest Home Edition, this is free.

It would also help if you provide the make and model of your computer.

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