PC Running Way Too Loud

[SouthernBark30]

I have a PC that is a few years old, it definitely is not the strongest PC but has been very reliable and I've seen slower. Right now it is running way too loud. The fan is at full speed, and it used to slow down but now it runs constantly. I keep all my computers clean, Avira, malwarebytes, etc. I watch what i download, but Windows has so many processes running that I feel it slows the computer down...I've cleaned the computer out, dust all that stuff, I have two other newer computers but I'm trying to keep this one alive so I can give it to my niece..Any ideas?? Thanx to anyone who can assist me.

[crunchie]

Have you actually cleaned out the fins on the heatsink for the cpu itself? Does the pc have a discrete graphics card? if so, is that heatsink clean as well?
If yes, then the heatsink may need to be re-seated with some good thermal compound.
What are the running temps?

[tigerbright]

Hi - i experienced this issue recently on one of my laptops, seems was the fan speed controller related system file error, was fixed by running Windows repair

Save all valued personal files to removable media and then run Windows recovery : select option thet retains personal files and applications

Being only a few years old your computer probably has a recovery partition accessed during BIOS post (F11 on some models)
will have a few options
If using a vendor generic Windows recovery disk can be further work in installing driver upgrades - run the disk , ignor the first repair option, continue to install but select R repair and follow prompts
this will overwrite all windows system files and leave user installed programs and personal files if in user created folders (all personal files located in my documents & settings are to my experience overwritten, hence the need to backup)
(time to complete task , realistically 1 hour to several hours depending)