dell 9400 problem

Headshot

i have a problem with my dell 9400

some times when i turn it on ,theres alot of noise in the back like a fan

it takes ever to turn on and when its on i go windows task manager
and i see the performance of th CPU usage its very very high


what could be wrong

battery??

Ghost Train

Can you see what program is causing the cpu usage, should be listed under processes. Probably just some program is hogging the cpu and slowing the machine down just after windows starts

Might be worth starting in safe mode (press f8 before windows starts), see if you have the same problem, if not some software you've installed is probably the problem.

The fan will make noise, but shouldn't sound rough. The fan is running fast because the cpu is working hard and getting hot, the fan is keeping the temperatures reasonable. If the cpu isn't being cooled enough by the fan, say if the fan isn't running properly, the cpu will eventually cut it's performance so it doesn't damage itself. So this could be the problem, this can happen is the fan and heatsink aren't mounted properly on the cpu

Headshot

eolhc wrote:

Can you see what program is causing the cpu usage, should be listed under processes. Probably just some program is hogging the cpu and slowing the machine down just after windows starts

Might be worth starting in safe mode (press f8 before windows starts), see if you have the same problem, if not some software you've installed is probably the problem.

The fan will make noise, but shouldn't sound rough. The fan is running fast because the cpu is working hard and getting hot, the fan is keeping the temperatures reasonable. If the cpu isn't being cooled enough by the fan, say if the fan isn't running properly, the cpu will eventually cut it's performance so it doesn't damage itself. So this could be the problem, this can happen is the fan and heatsink aren't mounted properly on the cpu

this problem happens like once out of 20 times i turn it on

Ghost Train

if it only happens rarely its a bit strange, you don't have something like a virus scanner that starts up every so often that might cause it.

Headshot

eolhc wrote:

if it only happens rarely its a bit strange, you don't have something like a virus scanner that starts up every so often that might cause it.

i use avg
could it be the battery

Ghost Train

{(-_-)}HeadShoT** wrote:

i use avg
could it be the battery

if it only happens when using the battery then maybe it's something like speedstep, or a powersaving profile, which reduces the cpu speed to save power. By changing the profile in power options, you should be able to see if it makes a differance, or by plugging in the ac adapter

doesn't sound like a battery fault though

Headshot

eolhc wrote:

if it only happens when using the battery then maybe it's something like speedstep, or a powersaving profile, which reduces the cpu speed to save power. By changing the profile in power options, you should be able to see if it makes a differance, or by plugging in the ac adapter

doesn't sound like a battery fault though

rang dell today

they think its the fan

they're sending someone out to have a look at it

thanks eolhc for the help

Headshot

lads i contacted dell about upgrading my warrenty to 3 yrs

and they quoted me a price of 120 euro

that includes a engineer coming out to my house on a saturday

they said 120 euro is a special offer just for today

is that a good price
120 inc vat

Ghost Train

120 sounds good to me, thats about what you'd pay extra if buying a new machine, ie 1 Year Service only vs 3 Year At-Home Service