Question

How do you stop an "Alert CPU fan failure" message?

Asked by: PDSWSS

After the Dell Optiplex GX280 was opened and closed an "Alert CPU fan failure" began to appear at startup. However, the CPU fan is working. Don't know why this message shows up.
Since the fan is working, I would like to turn this message off. How would I do this? Thanks

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-08-31 at 17:42:19ID24696600
Tags

Microsoft Windows XP

Topics

Computer Fans and Cooling

,

Windows XP Operating System

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
15

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Alert! Previous Fan Failure
    Dell Optiplex GX240 - I started to receive this error and I cannot get it to get past the message on startup. Alert! Previous Fan Failure Strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility ALL FANS ARE WORKING FINE. The case fan is plugged into a normal power cable as it always h...
  2. Cpu fan not detected - yet fan is working
    I am working on a Dell Dimension 2300. I have installed a new cpu fan and shroud. The fan is spinning. I have cleared the event log... Yet I still get an alert: cpu fan not detected when I boot up. How can I fix this?
  3. CPU FANS
    I just recently bought a P4 3.0ghz E and I am currently running the stock fan that came with it and when I went into BIOS and checked the temp it was 120 degrees F. Is that normal? What is a good temp for this processor...what should i shoot for in buying a CPU fan to get t...
  4. cpu fan error
    i turn on my computer and it says cpu fan error and it says press f1 to continue but everything is working the fan is working i dont know why that comes up

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: dbruntonPosted on 2009-08-31 at 17:56:25ID: 25227758

You've had it open, so open it up again.  Remove and reseat the fan connection to the motherboard and any other connection(s) to the fan that there may be.  It is quite possible that the connections have been bumped and are not joined together properly.

 

by: Milan_OjhPosted on 2009-08-31 at 18:38:43ID: 25227954

Reconnect the fan & take out BIOS battery & reinsert it.

it may solve your problem.

thnx  

 

by: pln1146Posted on 2009-09-01 at 13:26:07ID: 25235633

If you can bootup and get into your BIOS, you should be able to find all the settings for fans etc and make changes to how the BIOS reports them.  You don't want to shut down or disable any fans, just turn off the notifications or warnings.  Be careful, because  a case fan is one thing, but a cpu fan, if it fails, can cause your cpu to burn out.  Monitor your cpu's temperature.  Good luck.

 

by: PDSWSSPosted on 2009-09-03 at 17:14:58ID: 25256110

I am in the Bios (F2) but don't see any settings for fans. Any suggestions?  Thanks

 

by: PDSWSSPosted on 2009-09-03 at 17:30:17ID: 25256152

Milan_Ojh:

What other effects will removing the Bios Battery and reinserting have?  Thanks

 

by: pln1146Posted on 2009-09-03 at 18:18:04ID: 25256305

To reset the BIOS to original settings you not only have to remove the cmos battery (and replace it with a new one if it has been a long while since the last replacement) but also some motherboards require changing the shunt on a set of pins for a minute or two.  Check your motherboard manual for instructions.  The cd's that came with the computer may have the owner's manual or you may be able to download it online.  Check the wires coming out of the fan.  There should be three.  One positive, one ground, and one sensor.  It is the sensor wire that the BIOS reads for information about the fan. Be sure all wires are properly connected.

 

by: PDSWSSPosted on 2009-09-09 at 21:19:41ID: 25297387

Only found two wires and reconnecting did nothing. I will need to delete this question since the suggestions from the experts did not solve this issue.

 

by: boag2000Posted on 2009-09-13 at 00:37:52ID: 25319339

The issue is probably not that the fan is not working rather it could be that:

1. Remember that most modern computers have at least two fans. A case fan and a CPU fan. make sure you are checking the CPU fan.

2. The fan may just be is turning too slowly (for example the fan is turning at 5,000 rpm instead of the required 7,000 rpm).
In which case, replacing the fan usually clears up this issue.

;-)

JeffCoachman

 

by: PDSWSSPosted on 2009-09-13 at 07:28:10ID: 25320297

1. Its definitely the CPU fan.
2. How can you tell if the fan is turning < 7,000 rpm?

Thanks

 

by: pln1146Posted on 2009-09-13 at 14:23:56ID: 25321779

During bootup get into the BIOS and find Hardware Monitor or something like that.  It should give you the values for the cpu fan speed and the cpu's temperature.  The cpu fan and heat sink are not supplied as part of a motherboard so you may want to upgrade to a new one.  Make sure to use the right connecter for the cpu fan wires on the motherboard.  If you use one for a case fan, then the BIOS won't see it.

 

by: PDSWSSPosted on 2009-09-13 at 16:14:24ID: 25322255

What is a case fan?

 

by: pln1146Posted on 2009-09-13 at 18:05:44ID: 25322488

Desktop pc's have one or more fans built into the computer case.  They remove the warm air generated by all the components on the mother board. They come on automatically when the computer is turned on.   The heatsink for the central processing unit has its own special fan just to cool the cpu.  

 

by: boag2000Posted on 2009-09-13 at 18:34:11ID: 25322562

Question has been resurrected...
;-)

 

by: boag2000Posted on 2009-09-13 at 18:43:30ID: 25322590

..and 5,000 rpm and 7,000 rpm were just arbitrary numbers.

Basically, the fan should be running at a certain speed.
If the actual fan speed is slower, you might get the alert you are getting.

Again you can get a good, new CPU fan for less than $20.00 USD

:-)

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...