Dell inspiron8200 fan at startup?

12 years ago

I have a used dell inspiron 8200 (approx 2002 vintage?)that I have had for ~ a month (I had been using an older dell laptop 4000? for the internet for a year before that. The fans on the newer laptop were certainly audible and they certainly come off and on repeatedly for as long as the machine is on. I was also under the impression that they came on at startup.

My impression derived from the fact that I was startled or alerted a week ago when I felt something was wrong or broken as I pushed the startup button, because all was quiet. I realized the fan wasn't running and I imediately shut the machine down. I subsequently tried startups, listening for the fan and letting things run for a minute, but the fan didn't come on.

The fact that neither fan ran, made me worried that some controller was failing, but I could find nothing about it. I decided to replace the fan which is quite an undertaking, but as far as I can tell, I succeded. HOWEVER, I still don't have a fan at startup. I have run the machine for a couple of minutes running EXCEL. Since this machine is used, I don't have Dell's diagnostics disk. There is a short diagnostic routine in startup/f2 that the machine passed.

I am wondering if you all have any experience in this area. I am aware that there are supposed to be heat sensors that will slow the processor down and shut it down if necessary, but I would prefer not to fry things in the process.

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Comments (5)

owbist
12 years ago
The fact that the laptop ran and passed the diagnostic test is promising for sure. Computers are designed to shut down automatically when overheating occurs to protect the processor (CPU) so you are unlikely to put the computer at risk.

As you were confident enough to change the fan you might consider going into the BIOS on start up. Then depending on the BIOS used you can move across the top using the left or right arrow keys. Select the choices nearer the right side and hit Enter. Now you will see the contents listed underneath, you are looking for the page that gives you the temps and voltages. See how close the running temp is to the alarm upper threshold. Click ESC to escape without saving any changes.

Failing that you could download and install Speccy which is owned by the same folks as Ccleaner. It will give you a wealth of information on your machine.
chas045
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the suggestion. I will try digging into the BIOS. I didn't know it had temp info and speaking of temps, I loaded Speccy into my other computer to get the hang of it, but I don't see processor temperature. I only see hard drive temp. Any ideas where it resides?
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chas045
Original Author
12 years ago
Well obwist, I couldn't find the temp section in the BIOS of my laptop either, but since it took some time to find it, the fans in fact came on and then cycled a couple of times while I continued to attempt to find temp settings. I guess my problem is solved but I certainly am still interested in locating my processor temperature now that I have put so much time and anxiety into it.
owbist
12 years ago
On my Speccy I see the Temps for the CPU, motherboard, hard drives and video card showing on the starting summary page. Try clicking on the CPU in the left column to highlight greater detail on the right for the CPU - or other components.
chas045
Original Author
12 years ago
I got Speccy running on the laptop. It shows the temp in the summary as you said it would. The desktop doesn't.

The temps are running very high compared to specs I have seen but I don't think I'm going to worry much. As I mentioned originally, I had another inspiron and when the fan ran, it put out an obvious amount of heat. The heat from this is significently less. The top spec is 40 degree centigrade and mine cycles between 51 and 66. I suspect that the sensor is just off. The machine was completely clean.

Dell inspiron8200 fan at startup?

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Dell inspiron8200 fan at startup?

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