http://www.bootdisk.com/ 242 November 2005
The BootLIST
Welcome to the 242nd Edition of The BootLIST
INDEX
1) Loud Fan In Laptop. Is The Fan Bad?
2) Remove ISP Branding For IE And OE
3) ID CPU And Motherboard Make/Model
4) Already Know What Rootkits Are?
5) Rolling Back XP Drivers
########################################
1) Loud Fan In Laptop. Is The Fan Bad?
simonharris wrote - RE:TOSHIBA SATELLITE PRO LAPTOP
The fan has started being noisy over the last few days. I am not sure if its my imagination but its also blowing out more hot air. Do noisy fans always indicate a malfunction? Will I get any kind of warning on the screen if the inside of my computer starts to dangerously overheat?
*** In summary, there are two common reasons that cause "noisy" fans. First, there may be dirt on the fan blades and it's unbalanced, resulting in vibration and noise. And yes, lower cooling power. Time to either clean it or replace it.
Second, check your CPU usage, if its running full tilt at 90 to 100% all the time even if you are doing nothing, then some dodgy background program is hogging the cpu. It could be a virus, trojan, or spyware. Laptops throttle up the fan when cpu usage increases so the noise you hear "may" be perfectly normal [for the fan] but you're just not used to hearing it run so fast. Still, in that case one still has to find out what's tying up the cpu. it.
Ron M. replied:
Proper cooling fan operation and air flow is even more critical in laptops than it is in desktop machines.
[Assuming the fan is bad,] you do need to get the machine to a service tech a.s.a.p. to have the fan fixed or replaced. They are not expensive, although the proper model of fan may not be in stock, resulting in a delay while one is ordered.
Most laptops do have overheat protection built into the BIOS. However the default values are sometimes sometimes set to "disabled" so you need to go into the BIOS setup and make sure that the overheat protection is fully activate and that the "trigger" settings for alarms and shutdown are not too high.
Ben J. said:
I had a similar problem with my Tosh Satellite. In the end mine would instantly power off regularly. I
realized it was getting very warm so used a vacuum cleaner to suck the muck out of the fans. LOTS of fluff came out and the laptop was back to normal. Recently it's started getting warmer with more fan activity so I'm going to give it another clean out soon.
Unk added:
Yes. Something [may be running full tilt!] Do a virus and spyware scan ASAP, and get Winternal's
Process Explorer (freeware) to find out which application is using the CPU.
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html
That would also explain the fan noise. The fan in my HP laptop only comes on when the CPU usage is running high. When it runs normally, like now, the fan is off most of the time. (and quiet)
########################################
2) Remove ISP Branding For IE And OE
phil asked - I left my old isp 5 months ago, and I have just noticed that they (wanadoo) are still attaching themselves to my software. When I open outlook express, in the top of the window it say's "outlook express provided by wanadoo" ... grrrrrrr!!!! How do I remove this please?
*** Well, they are NOT still attaching anything to your software. You're just still experiencing the results
of installing their branded apps when you first signed up.
Dave L. provided:
Remove the ISP branding for Internet Explorer and Outlook Express:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/ie/ispunbrand.htm
########################################
3) ID CPU And Motherboard Make/Model
I've had wcpuID for download for a number of years and recently discovered it's been updated, tho I'm a year late. ie Version 3.0 was distributed in 2001, version 3.3 in 2004. Still, it was a tad difficult to find the latest version so here it is for you to tryout.
http://www.bootdisk.com/kentucky/wcpu330.exe
I like it as it doesn't require an install and has a new util called wcpuclk which tells you what your cpu is actually running at. View | System info will also tell you your motherboard make and model.
########################################
4) Already Know What Rootkits Are?
http://www.sysinternals.com/utilities/rootkitrevealer.html
Related story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4430608.stm
########################################
5) Rolling Back XP Drivers
Old Bob asked - If I create a system restore point and then I update my video drivers and they do not work properly with the programs I have will restoring bring back the old drivers?
Wesley V. answers:
This step-by-step article describes how restore a previous version of a device driver if a newly-installed
driver causes system instability. This process is known as "rolling back" the driver to an earlier version.
HOW TO: Use the Driver Roll Back Feature to Restore a Previous Version of a Device Driver in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=306546
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Like this issue of The BootLIST?
One can, if you wish, return the favor and treat the Newsletter Author to a $5 Dollar Breakfast by clicking on this link:
BONUS - You will also be provided with a link to download issues #140 to present COMPLETE with a nice text search utility that highlights your search words and opens up the old LISTS within the app itself. No software install required. Everything is included in a SINGLE 600K zip package.
If you prefer real mail send a letter to Ed Jablonowski:
56 Kossman Street, East Brunswick, New Jersey 08816-4442 USA
NOTICE: Please dont reply to this email as the return address is just for catching autoreplies
and spam. If you want to comment on an issue or have a question regarding logistics please see the
FAQ:
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootlist/faq.htm.
Kindest regards, Ed
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To Subscribe to this techletter please enter your Email address below:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++