basic question - laptop fan

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

I have come into possession of an oldie but a goodie laptop, cheap.. a
Dell CPi 400 MHz P2. Works like a charm - the guy loaded XP Pro on it for
me. (Even can utilize a 108 Mbps 32 bit wireless G PCMIA card. Just
needs a new battery, maybe $85 - $100).

My question is about the fan in the back - I don't think it ever has come
on. I have been on the computer for a few hours straight, and noticed it
quite warn underneath when finished with it.

What I want to know is - are laptop-notebook fans only supposed to come on
if it gets too to high a temperature, or are they supposed to always be
on?
...D.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Try here > http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html

This little utility does allow you to turn on the fan/s manually.

Im using it on my Inspiron and it works fine may answer your question.

K


On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 23:46:50 GMT, Barry Watzman
<WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:

>They are temperature controlled. There's no way to say if the fan is
>defective or if it simply hasn't gotten hot enough to activate it's
>temperature sensor. For most laptops, there is a fan diagnostic program
>that gives manual explicit fan on-off control, but it's machine
>specific, at least in general.
>
>
>...D. wrote:
>
>> I have come into possession of an oldie but a goodie laptop, cheap.. a
>> Dell CPi 400 MHz P2. Works like a charm - the guy loaded XP Pro on it for
>> me. (Even can utilize a 108 Mbps 32 bit wireless G PCMIA card. Just
>> needs a new battery, maybe $85 - $100).
>>
>> My question is about the fan in the back - I don't think it ever has come
>> on. I have been on the computer for a few hours straight, and noticed it
>> quite warn underneath when finished with it.
>>
>> What I want to know is - are laptop-notebook fans only supposed to come on
>> if it gets too to high a temperature, or are they supposed to always be
>> on?
>> ...D.