Why is my PC fan always on?

[calibanzwei]

could well be dust, open it up and get the Hoover out.

Good Gods Don't! Static build up from moving air over plastic parts? Friend did the same and fried both mobo and RAM. Wasn't happy!

 

[MontyVeda]

Good Gods Don't! Static build up from moving air over plastic parts? Friend did the same and fried both mobo and RAM. Wasn't happy!

I've taken the vacuum to my pc's many times with no such troubles

 

[Inertia]

I've taken the vacuum to my pc's many times with no such troubles

Ive opened my pc and fiddled with it without grounding myself and had no issues but I wouldn't recommend it. Vacuums can create a large amount of static, put that near a computers sensitive areas and you could kill them. you can get away with it but it is a risk.

Compressed air is the recommended alternative.

It’s bad to clean the inside of your computer with a vacuum cleaner because vacuuming creates a large static build up that could (and most likely will) discharge into the sensitive electronics inside your computer case. There are specialized vacuum cleaners designed for cleaning out computers and electronic equipment but given the limited amount of use a single user would get from such a purchase it’s not a very wise one—they start at $300+ and can easily break the $1000 price barrier.

What we’d recommend doing is taking your computer case into a well ventilated area (outside on a sunny day or in your garage is a great place), grounding the case to protect against static discharge (although the risk here is very very low) and using compressed air to clean the dust off. If you’re using an air compressor (as opposed to just a can of compressed air from the computer store) make sure to start a good 24″ or so away from the case and work your way in closer. You want to use just enough air pressure to blast the dust off the surfaces and out of the case without overdoing it and pushing dust into even more difficult to remove places.

One important thing to consider: compressed air (from a compressor, not a can) contains minute amounts of water vapor. Although we’ve never actually heard of this happening to anyone it is (however remote the chance) possible to blow moisture into the connectors on your mother board and damage it if you were to boot it immediately afterwards. This is in the range of lightening-strike remote, however. None the less to be extra cautious we would recommend that you leave the computer off and in a warm dry location for a few hours after you give it a good air-compressor cleaning to allow any residual moisture (if it’s even there to begin with) to evaporate. This borders on paranoid caution, mind you, but better safe than sorry.


http://www.howtogeek...h-one-keyboard/

 

[Bromptonaut]

The clean up has bought you some improvement my restoring the efficiency of the cooling system. The other side of the equation is what's making the processor run so hard it needs 24/7 cooling.

What programmes are installing/starting with Windows? Lots of things are set to do this by default but few are needed. Somebody upthread mentioned Skype. Others are Printer addons, updaters, KVM enhancements etc etc.

Piriform's CCLeaner is excellent for listing and controlling these. Download the prog and install then go to Tools>Start Up. You'll see a list of progs that start with your PC - most are unecessary but leave those associated with sound, AV etc.

In any event it's worth runnig that programme just to get the detritus off your hrd drive.

 

[Maz]

The clean up has bought you some improvement my restoring the efficiency of the cooling system. The other side of the equation is what's making the processor run so hard it needs 24/7 cooling.

What programmes are installing/starting with Windows? Lots of things are set to do this by default but few are needed. Somebody upthread mentioned Skype. Others are Printer addons, updaters, KVM enhancements etc etc.

Piriform's CCLeaner is excellent for listing and controlling these. Download the prog and install then go to Tools>Start Up. You'll see a list of progs that start with your PC - most are unecessary but leave those associated with sound, AV etc.

In any event it's worth runnig that programme just to get the detritus off your hrd drive.

I'll do some checks. Off the top of my head, I think Skype does start up automatically on my PC.

In fact, even without the CCleaner, I could look at the list onthe 'program manager' and see whats running, i suppose.