Why does my laptop make a high pitched noise when it is first turned on?

[Guest]

Aloha, I have a small,Gateway mini-laptop that does not come with a DVD or CD disk drive.It has Win Xp on it. Suddenly, it began making a high pitched, eeeee type, noise ONLY when you turn it on. Before this and during, I was unable to get into Win splash page or my desktop. My screen would go to a black and white screen (like wen you push F2, but it went there automatically)& asked me how I wanted Win to start: i.e.Safe Mode, Normally, etc. I restart using "normally" BUT when I got to my desktop, some programs, especially my virus program Avast, would shake when opened up-and would not start. After some fooling around with it-and I DO mean fooling around, as I know not what I do when it comes to computers-But no more than trying to repair programs and warm and cold booting stuff.I learned my lesson years ago, NEVER to go places in my computer that I know nothing about.Anyway,to sum it up it now works fine EXCEPT for this noise that starts immediately when I push the on button. Nothing will stop it-tried ctrl+alt+del, but no go-but after 15-30 seconds, it goes off. Its not fans, sound comes from deep inside the little laptop. Can anyone help this old lady in Hawaii so that she can surf safely and without noise? Mahalo, Aloha nui loa, AWriterWithGuts

 

[buzznut]

Aloha, I have a small,Gateway mini-laptop that does not come with a DVD or CD disk drive.It has Win Xp on it. Suddenly, it began making a high pitched, eeeee type, noise ONLY when you turn it on. Before this and during, I was unable to get into Win splash page or my desktop. My screen would go to a black and white screen (like wen you push F2, but it went there automatically)& asked me how I wanted Win to start: i.e.Safe Mode, Normally, etc. I restart using "normally" BUT when I got to my desktop, some programs, especially my virus program Avast, would shake when opened up-and would not start. After some fooling around with it-and I DO mean fooling around, as I know not what I do when it comes to computers-But no more than trying to repair programs and warm and cold booting stuff.I learned my lesson years ago, NEVER to go places in my computer that I know nothing about.Anyway,to sum it up it now works fine EXCEPT for this noise that starts immediately when I push the on button. Nothing will stop it-tried ctrl+alt+del, but no go-but after 15-30 seconds, it goes off. Its not fans, sound comes from deep inside the little laptop. Can anyone help this old lady in Hawaii so that she can surf safely and without noise? Mahalo, Aloha nui loa, AWriterWithGuts

Actually I believe it is fans. Most computers when started will have some excess fan noise as the machine is booting up but typically will decrease as you are booting into windows. That's because the fans will run at 100% speed at startup but then will slow as the temperatures are read and the PC is not running at full throttle.

In your case, I think that a fan inside the machine (and they are located "deep" inside) is failing or has begun making excess noise because of some bad bearings or what have you.
My recommendation is if it is still under warranty, RMA gateway. They will likely tell you to mail the machine to them for repairs. The process could take several weeks. Or live with the noise and hope the fan does not outright fail on you and the computer overheats. Many laptops are destroyed this way, heat is the enemy.