Fan I have a dell computer and during start up, the fan runs extremely fast to the point it seems like it is going to explode. My computer won't start because of this happening. I used to be able to try starting it over and over and sometimes after 5 or 10 tries the fan would slow down and the computer would start. But sometmes after a while it would lock up or shut itself down.

Hi have the same problem, same DELL 8400 Desktop machine running XP home. The issue only started happening recently (have had the machine for several years now) the CPU cooling fan just started racing (seriously fast) not sure if it will blow or if it is able to run at this speed by design. I found that this seemed to be caused by a bad connection in a plug on the mother board next to the CPU. This has two yellow and two black wires on it. I found two of the pins inside the plug were scorched (brown) and the side of the plug scorched also. Reseating the plug seemed to fix the problem temporarily but after a few restarts, the racing fan would happen again. As of this morning, I cannot get the computer to start normally at all, that is monitor not connecting (green light) and fan running at normal speed. Tried resetting the BIOS but this has not made any difference. I am not sure if the problem is purely related to that plug (with yellow / black wires) being truly unserviceable now. Would like some feedback please. Thanks John Timermanis [email protected] Hi have the same problem, same DELL 8400 Desktop machine running XP home. The issue only started happening recently (have had the machine for several years now) the CPU cooling fan just started racing (seriously fast) not sure if it will blow or if it is able to run at this speed by design. I found that this seemed to be caused by a bad connection in a plug on the mother board next to the CPU. This has two yellow and two black wires on it. I found two of the pins inside the plug were scorched (brown) and the side of the plug scorched also. Reseating the plug seemed to fix the problem temporarily but after a few restarts, the racing fan would happen again. As of this morning, I cannot get the computer to start normally at all, that is monitor not connecting (green light) and fan running at normal speed. Tried resetting the BIOS but this has not made any difference. I am not sure if the problem is purely related to that plug (with yellow / black wires) being truly unserviceable now. Would like some feedback please. Thanks John Timermanis [email protected]

You have it backwards. The fans are racing because the system is not completing the POWER on Self-Test (POST). One of the symptoms of a POST failure is the cooling fans running 100%. Under normal circumstances, they go to 100% then slow after the srlf-test completes.

The fact that the system eventually completes POST and boots indicates that you may have a heat issue where one component is not making contact until the system board warms up during several starts. Sometimes a slow spin up of the hard drive will have the same symptom.

Post the model information of your system (Example Dimension 2400, Inspiron 530 etc) and I might be able to give you some more detailed advice.
You have it backwards. The fans are racing because the system is not completing the POWER on Self-Test (POST). One of the symptoms of a POST failure is the cooling fans running 100%. Under normal circumstances, they go to 100% then slow after the srlf-test completes.

The fact that the system eventually completes POST and boots indicates that you may have a heat issue where one component is not making contact until the system board warms up during several starts. Sometimes a slow spin up of the hard drive will have the same symptom.

Post the model information of your system (Example Dimension 2400, Inspiron 530 etc) and I might be able to give you some more detailed advice.