Sometimes, my computer sounds as if it’s running away. When it does this, the
cursor freezes and I can’t do anything until it slows down. I don’t know if
this is the hard drive going bad or another problem.
In this excerpt from
Answercast #55, I look at a noisy machine and how to find the process that
is causing the fan to roar.
Become a Patron of Ask Leo! and go ad-free!
Loud computer
In my experience, what this normally means is that there is some software on
your computer that is essentially hogging the computer. It’s trying to use
all of the CPU and is actually preventing the other software on your
machine (including the software that, for example, would handle your mouse or
keyboard) …it prevents that software from even running, and from being able
to update the mouse position or accept your keystrokes.
The reason it sounds like it’s running away is usually related to heat.
The computer fan
Most computers these days run the fan slowly to keep the computer cool while
you’re using it normally.
Most of the time your computer’s processor actually isn’t doing that much.
Just typing an email or looking at a web page doesn’t really require a lot of
horsepower. A lot of the time, while you’re doing what you would normally do on
your computer, the CPU is actually spending most of its time doing nothing.
Doing “nothing,” it can do at a very low temperature.
On the other hand, when software comes along that tries to use the CPU
intensively, and for long periods of time, then the CPU gets busy. When it gets
busy, it gets hot – and when your CPU gets hot, what happens is the system
kicks in the fans at a much higher speed to move a lot more air across the
processor to try and keep it cool.
Cooling the CPU
You and I hear that as the fans speeding up. Sometimes, they go right into
max speed and you hear these fans blowing a tremendous amount of air through
your computer in an attempt to keep the CPU from overheating.
So, it’s a good thing in that your computer is keeping the CPU from
overheating. It’s designed to do that. But, as you can tell, it’s a symptom of
your CPU being used at its max capacity. It’s generating a lot of heat.
What’s using your CPU?
What I would suggest you do when you encounter this, there’s an article
I’ve got about “What
is hogging all my CPU?” That will actually walk you through grabbing a copy
of a program called “Process Explorer,” and using Process Explorer to see which
process on your computer is actually using the CPU at the time you discover
this problem.
Most of the time when things are running normally, you will find that the
processor is running a process called “System idle.” And that’s as it should
be.
The System idle process is the process that essentially does nothing. The
computer is idling. It actually goes into a low power state at the CPU level so
it’s not generating a lot of heat.
Analyze your CPU usage
As soon as a program comes along that tries to use the processor
excessively, you’ll see that bubble to the top of the list in Process
Explorer, and you’ll be able to quickly identify at least what process it
is.
From that, you’ll have a clue what to look at next:
-
It may be a program you’re expecting. In which case, you may be able to do
something about it. -
It may be something you’re not expecting. In which case, perhaps you’ll have
to research it a little bit further.
But you’ll have that data that says, “OK, this is the program
that’s causing the problem. Now, let’s see what we can do.”
Next from Answercast 55 – Can I prevent something from being forwarded by adding a legal statement to my
message?
If a computer hasn’t been cleaned, then dust bunnies could be clogging the fans, and acting as a blanket – both of which stop the heat from being vented properly. A thorough house-cleaning, to remove dust build-up, can not only reduce the noise from a computer, but extend its lifespan dramatically.