Hi all ...
Hope you can help ...
I have an older laptop (dell inspiron 8600)that has seen better days. I'm hoping to get it working good again for my kids (I was using it up until today when my new one got here ...)
anyway,
I noticed a few weeks ago that the exhaust cooling fan wasn't working any more - I've just ordered a replacement today. My question is this, It's also seems to been freezing up - a lot since I noticed the fan issue - as in it just stops right in the middle of anything - and I have to physically shut it down with the power button - I've also noticed a slight "clunk" noise when it decides to stop. could the system be overheating and causing it to freeze up ? I'm hoping that that is all it is - (and hopefully hasn't cause too much damage - I'm not sure just how long the fan wasn't working before I noticed that it wasn't) the exhaust cooling fan is easy to replace. I just hope it's not a hard drive on the verge of failure. Sometimes I don't even get all the way through booting up ... and it does seem to co-incide with the heat build up - . I also noticed a smaller fan under the keyboard when I replaced that (my birds picked off the keys and lost them)- should I replace that as well - and if so, is it difficult ? I'm not much of a technical person. I don't mind taking things apart, it's the putting together again, correctly, that worries me ! thanks so much for your help you guys and gals are wonderful ! (i've received some good advise on here before ...) and your thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated ... :)

Sorry I can't answer your main question but have you cleaned your existing case fan? sometimes they just get too dusty. Also try giving it a small push when your computer is on and see if it starts spinning.

The problem may just be a dirty fan.

And yes a hot cpu can cause lockups

Now might be a good time to replace the second fan you mentioned, if you have a digital camera take detailed photos along the way and keep detailed notes as you go, I am with you as far as tearing into something and then having a problem getting all those little gilly gadgets back where they use to be.
One other note here, if it is a real problem finding where the fan connects to you might consider cutting the wires in place and splicing the new fan in from there.

Keep the old stuff running

Hi, thanks ... I'll open it up again and check the part # on it - good idea with the camera - never thought of that ! :)
Oh, and as for the first reply - yes, I did clean out a rather large dust ball, but it's still not working .... I can't really try to give it a push start because the bottom cover is part of the fan unit ... so if i
remove the cover - I'm removing the fan :(
But, since you mention that if the cpu gets hot it can cause it to lock up - then that
is what my first guess is going to be. The new fan should be here in a few days - so I'll just limit my kids use of it until I can replace it and see what else is going on
Thanks for your help so far ... :)