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qvhit

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The message "A cooling device has exceeded a non-critical threshold" randomly popping up in Windows XP

The following  message keeps popping up randomly when logged on in windows XP:

"A cooling device has exceeded a non-critical threshold"

The only option is to click OK and the message goes away.

This has been happening for quite a while now and the PC doesn't seem to be behaving any differently to before i was getting the message.

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Chris B
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Most likely a fan is spinning slower than the required threshold or the system temp is getting higher than set limits. Your bios may have a pc health page or similar where such revolutions and temps are displayed. Check it out and replace the affected fan if this is the issue.

Chris B
Avatar of Merete
are you running any mainboard monitors?
There could be a setting that will display this message,
  have you paid attention to this as it could be very serious, over heating components can fry your processor chip
Motherboard Monitor
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=204
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qvhit

ASKER

There's no information in the bios for fan speeds or system temp. Also there are no mainboard monitors running. The PC is a Dell Optiplex GX280 SFF. We have 500 Dell Optiplex SFF PCs on site and I have never seen this error before. Usually if there is a thermal event or fan issue a message would come up during the boot process.

Matt
This from the manual -
Booting to a USB Device
NOTE: To boot to a USB device, the device must be bootable. To ensure that your device is bootable, check the device documentation.
Memory Key
Insert the memory key into a USB port and restart the computer.
When F12 = Boot Menu appears in the upper-right corner of the screen, press <F12>.
The BIOS detects the device and adds the USB device option to the boot menu.
From the boot menu, select the number that appears next to the USB device.
The computer boots to the USB device.

So hitting <F12> when prompted should give you the option to boot from the hard drive.

Chris B
Whoops - wrong question.

Chris B
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Merete
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