Computer won't start up.

[guitarjanitor]

Hey, all. Long time no post.

Anyways, I'm on here to help out my mother, who's computer won't start up at all. It's an HP media center pc m260n with Windows XP. When you press the power button, the computer turns on and then displays the message

Error: system fan failed
Have system serviced immediately!
The system will power down in 5 seconds.....

The computer actually doesn't even stay on for five seconds. It more or less just flashes the message and turns off. Any idea what I can do? I opened the case and did a quick cursory check of the cables and everything seemed to be plugged in. When I press the power button I can hear fans spinning up...

Anyways, I appreciate any help that you guys can offer.

 

[Outlander_04]

My guess would be the fan that provides cooling to the processor has stopped working , the mb detects that , and turns off to avoid heat build up

Check the fan on the processor

check the fan in the power supply too

Chances are they are easy enough to replace

 

[guitarjanitor]

Okay, I'll check that tomorrow. Thanks for the advice.

Do you know how I can find out what specific fan the computer needs? Is that even something I need to worry about? I mean, can I just grab a few generic fans and plug em in?