XS11E wrote:
There's no way to tell. Just plain luck says some will last for years
and others for only weeks. You're dealing with a very inexpensive
component manufactured in quantities of thousands, some will be good, a
few will be bad and a few will be GREAT!

I think the problem is that there's some dust inside the fan causing
the occasional annoying noise, but the fan is up against the side of
the computer and I cannot vacuum on that side.

And I haven't figured out how to remove the fan. If anyone is familiar
with this model and fan, HP Compaq D330 Slim Tower let me know.

There appear to be two metal levers, but nothing happens when I push,
and I don't want to push too hard to break them.