>> I would imagine the fan bearings are worn out. That's usually the cause
>> of excessive fan noice.
> 
> Not necessarily. If the fan just sounds like a jet engine, it's probably 
> just a small fan spinning relatively fast. You may be able to get a 
> quieter fan, or if your case has a spot for it, a larger fan.

 From the way Warp phrased it, I got the impression that this PC *was* 
working fine, and now it's suddenly started doing this.

Usual reason for that is worn out bearings.

> Heh. The other day my wife's computer (a notebook) shut down 
> automatically, and she couldn't get it to come on again. I picked it up, 
> and noticed two things immediately. The bottom was scorching hot, and a 
> receipt flitted away as I picked up the computer.
> 
> Yeah, a receipt blocked the fan's input port. What really worried me was 
> the fact that the computer had gotten so hot that even the pins on the 
> VGA connector were too hot to touch! Scary... no permanent damage that I 
> can determine was done to the computer.

I tried to install Linux on my dad's laptop, and had an interesting 
experience. The installer kept crashing at random points with random 
error messages. Tried several times and it just wouldn't work. Then I 
noticed that the underside of the machine was scalding hot. The fan 
wasn't spinning at all. We assumed it was broken.

Then we rebooted the laptop, and immediately the fan started spinning 
like crazy. I left it on the BIOS screen, and the fan's spinning away, 
and I'm watching the temperature stats. Eventually the fan starts to 
slow down, and eventually it completely stops spinning.

So I load up the Linux installer and start again. Same deal. Eventually 
it crashes, and the laptop is once again burning hot, with no fan activity.

So I reboot it, and the fan starts spinning like crazy. I immediately go 
back into the Linux installer, and start installing. Here's the thing - 
the fan stays spinning at maximum speed, even long after the laptop is 
stone cold.

Yes, that's right. THE FAN IS CONTROLLED IN SOFTWARE! How retarded is 
that? Surely this is a serious fire hazard...

Still, it was a very old laptop. (Actually, it still is.)

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