"monkeygland" wrote in message
oups.com...
My Compaq Presario (SR1 299AN) is so LOUD! The computer fans often
turn on, and the sound can be overwhelming. I'm not sure why, but it
particularly goes nuts when I open microsoft word and type manually -
and I'm forced to type because the racket drowns out dragon naturally
speaking ( I have RSI and would prefer to use speech recognition).

And yes, I often clean them to remove dust, etc. So my question is:
what can i do to fix this? Can I replace the fans with something less
noisy and/or constant, etc?

thanks in advance

You say that you " often clean them ": from the OUTside?
Have you opened up to see: is it a Power Supply fan or a CPU fan or
cabinet fan making the noise?
If you HAVEN'T opened it up to see what's making the noise - do so ( or
have someone else do it). If CPU fan you do not want CPU to overheat/die.
If a bad cab fan /CPU fan - can get those at CompUSA etc. If power supply,
then may need to replace it.
Also when you open it up, you might find that the power supply has 2
fans - one on the back and one on the inside. I've replaced a few this
year that the PS's inside one died - causing the pc to heat up - then not
power up at all
In general, what I do for dirty fans :
disconnect all the cables, take the box outside,remove all covers and use
a vacuum cleaner hose on BLOW (rather than 'vacuum') and blow out all of
the fans and the entire cabinet, screens. BE CAREFUL - start with airflow
away from fans,screens and bring in gradually so don't damage them.
Reinstall covers, bring PC back in. Turn it back on, ( without all the
cabling) and if still making noise - replace it ( whatever IT is). If no
noise, it's good time to tidy up those cables as you reconnect them. All
set.

Good luck,
Bobb