Cleaned out the heat sink of my Dell Inspiron 1525 as suggested by another AB user since the fan was acting up. That didn't fix the problem. The CPU doesn't exceed 10% when it goes off & it's not hot... what is wrong?? Virus? Any help appreciated .. :(

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• I received the computer for Christmas last year to help with college. Unlike my brothers who got to choose theirs, I wasn't so lucky. I don't know much about Vista but from what I hear it's not good. Well, that's what I have :-|
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  By acting up I mean the fan goes off, on average, multiple times a minute and it lasts from 10-30 seconds. I asked another question before this one relating to it, prior to me cleaning out the heat sink (I'm either brave or stupid, but didn't scratch anything and went by guidelines of how to do it) here: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1833412
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  Feel free to take a look and let me know if you think of anything...I'm pretty desperate now...(sad huh? haha)
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  I don't understand what you mean by the CPU settings in the control panel being different that what I need for cooling. At the moment, I know where the control panel is, what the CPU meter looks like and what it shows...somewhat (two meters and when the fan goes off one shoots up to 10% and the other

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  by ~*C23*~ on November 29th, 2009

• doesn't really make a change..that other being the small one connected to the right side of it.... lol so not much knowledge here :p
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  Where do I find the temperature sensor?
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  A lot of questions but I'm grateful for anything you can advise/suggest.. :]

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  by ~*C23*~ on November 29th, 2009

• Temp sensor is a physical device that monitors your internal temps. It could be not working correctly but to check it, requires a service guy. I've done a little digging on your behalf and have come across a lot of people with that laptop having the same issues. Most were resolved with using a can of compressed air and cleaning it out. Some were the fault of Vista's control panel setting regarding cpu temp control. I'm going to leave a message with a fellow system builder in here and see if he's come across anything beyond what I've already mentioned.
  Message left, he ought to see this in a day or so.

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  by scubabob on November 29th, 2009

• I personally have avoided Vista for a number of reasons, but I tend to run SpeedFan anyways thus overriding anything the OS has to say.
   
  One other thing that I forgot to mention previously is that the CPU is actually *NOT* the hottest part of my desktop rig. The CPU rarely hits 160F/71C even during a burn-test on a summer day.
  However, my Radeon 9800XT rarely runs *less* than 147F/64C even at idle and is often considerably warmer. Under gaming conditions, it's hit 201F/94C! (Yes, *TOO* warm, but it still works after all these years.) Needless to say, I have to keep that heatsink lint-free as well, but I replace the original fan with a 53CFM case fan; louder than hell but I haven't hit 165F/74C since making that mod. OF course, that heat goes into the case so I also have three more case fans and the two on my PSU sucking that heat out.

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  by 8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009 on November 29th, 2009

• However, laptops do not have the weight, space, or power luxuries that a desktop system enjoys so their cooling systems are anemic. In fact, that is part of why laptops are less powerful than desktops; making them the same speed would lead to heat issues and short battery life. My netbook gets 2-1/2 hours on it's battery, but that same battery would not power even the CPU alone on my tower for more than ~45 minutes, and once you add in teh motherboard and graphics card we're talking closer to 10-15, not to mention the fact that the heatsinks in that tower alone are bigger/heavier than my entire netbook.
   
  The Inspiron has integrated graphics, but I would wager that the chipset on the motherboard doesn't have it's own fan and likely not even a separate heatsink. That can also drive up case temps and thereby make the entire system run warm.
   
  Or it could just be a bad temperature sensor. Something like Speedfan or PC Wizard cna yank real-time readings off of those.

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  by 8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009 on November 29th, 2009

• Yeah, although I couldn't find an interior cutaway of this model laptop, I suspect it's just got the one fan doing quadruple duty too. It is a Dell after all. The user groups I checked out on this model do a lot of griping about the cooling. I suppose one thing that could also be the issue is a battery about to go poof. The extra heat from that may be causing the fan to cycle more often.
  My first thought after dusty fins was the sensor, but trusty old Dell specs won't tell you if it's integrated on the board and thus not cheaply replaceable or separate.
  Anyway...thanks for jumping in here so quick after my message.
  Cheers Jerv

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  by scubabob on November 30th, 2009

• I know that there was this one Dell model that had a faulty video chip that was prone to overheating. Dell's solution? A patch that ran the fan at 100% all the time. It didn't work terribly well, but it *did* prolong the lives of those particular laptops just enough to run out the 1-year warranty.
  I'm not sure if it was the 1525, but even if not that sort of behavior should tell you what sort of company Dell is :P

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  by 8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009 on November 30th, 2009

• Thank you both. My Avast! caught a trojan the other day on Skype. After it removed it and I uninstalled Skype the fan hasn't gone off as loud, as often, or as long as it did. It seems to be back to normal...still goes off but not as much. I did download that PC Wizard and though I don't understand everything it looks pretty cool haha and makes me feel motivated to find out what everything means :) I'm not as knowledgeable about computers as you two are, but this does make me feel better.
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  Anything else you know I'd love to hear it.
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  THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :-)

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  by ~*C23*~ on December 4th, 2009

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