Solved! Huge slowdown - seems as if laptop fan does not work

[zdwxh]

Hi,

A few days ago, my laptop's performances suddenly dropped. I noticed whenever it was cool enough, though(e.g. had just started up), it would operate as usual, only to slow down back to a crawl as soon as it got too hot.

Given they don't ever seem to kick in, my guess is the fans don't work, so whenever my laptop heats up, it cools by limiting processor use. Would it be possible for that to be the cause of such awful performances?

I do not know if the problem lies in software or hardware; before opening the casing and checking/cleaning the fans, I thought I'd ask if there is anything I should attempt on the software level(driver reinstalling or such).

In case that helps, I have tried SpeedFan, and it does not display anything at all about the fans(though everything else seems to be working fine.)

I apologize for any oddities in my English!

 

[Saga Lout]

Leave the screwdriver in the box and pick up the vacuum cleaner instead. Aim the pipe at the vents on the side or back of the laptop's body and see if the fan works properly after you turn the cleaner off.

If it doesn't start, then you can the screwdriver. Take the screws out and mark put them in circles on a piece of paper to make sure the right ones go into the thread they came from.

Be very careful prising the base from the top. Good luck.

 

[zdwxh]

Leave the screwdriver in the box and pick up the vacuum cleaner instead. Aim the pipe at the vents on the side or back of the laptop's body and see if the fan works properly after you turn the cleaner off.
[...]

Thank you very much for your answer!

However, as I stated in my post, I'm not quite at that stage yet(I'll make sure to keep your advice in mind if I reach it). I just wanted to know if there is anything software-based I can attempt before trying to clean/fix the fan, and if my diagnosis makes sense in the first place...

 

[rainbowdash463]

Thank you very much for your answer!

However, as I stated in my post, I'm not quite at that stage yet(I'll make sure to keep your advice in mind if I reach it). I just wanted to know if there is anything software-based I can attempt before trying to clean/fix the fan, and if my diagnosis makes sense in the first place...

Check if your fan is spinning up. If it does, try cleaning and reapply the thermal paste. If it doesn't, Try checking the fan's cable to see if it is loose. If anything doesn't affect the fan, try taking your laptop to a repair technician. I think the laptop is limiting the CPU performance in order to prevent the CPU to overheat and die.

 

[zdwxh]

Thank you! Issue solved, the fan was blocked by a large amount of dust. My computer runs much smoother now.