Your computer fan is loud on startup. That can be annoying. But in some cases, you don’t need to worry about it. To learn more about this and the fixes, keep reading.
Is it bad if my computer fan is loud on startup?
It depends.
When your computer fan is loud on startup, it can be nothing but just the loud sound due to the high speed of a running fan. In this case, if you can put up with the sound, you can just ignore it.
On the other hand, the computer fan loud issue can be due to a dusty fan or a bad fan. In this case, you need to do something to fix the problem. If not, the fan will eventually lose the ability to reduce the heat levels inside your computer. This could harm your computer and cause a range of issues.
If you can’t determine if your computer fan is bad or not, you can use the methods below to fix the problem.
Tips before moving on to the methods If your computer is still in warranty, you’d better contact the computer manufacturer support to get further help as this is probably a hardware issue.
Method 1: Perform a clean boot
Method 2: Use BIOS to control fan speed
Method 3: Clean your fans and vents
Method 4: Replace your fans
Method 1: Perform a clean boot
Some resource-hungry programs and services may run on startup. These programs and services might eat up a lot of resources and make computer fans loud. You can perform a clean boot to identify the program or service that’s making the loud sound.
To do so:
1) Press Win+R keys to open the Run box.
2) Type “msconfig” into the Run box and click OK. Then the System Configuration window will open.
3) At the System Configuration window, go to the Services tab, tick Hide all Microsoft services and click Disable all. Then all non-microsoft services will be disabled.
4) Go to the Startup tab, click on Open Task Manager.
5) In Task Manager, under the Startup tab, disable all startup programs (you can tell from the Status column).
6) Go back to the System Configuration window.
7) Click Apply -> OK to save the changes.
8) Restart your computer. After your computer restarts, your computer will be in a clean boot environment.
9) Check to see if the fan loud problem occurs in the clean boot environment.
If the problem doesn’t occur, a third-party service or a startup program is the cause. Then you can follow below steps to find out which service or startup program is causing the problem.
1) Open the System Configuration window again.
2) On the Services tab, tick Hide all Microsoft services.
3) Enable several non-Microsoft services at a time (for example, five services as a group).
4) Check to see if the problem occurs. If the problem occurs, that group contains the service that’s causing the problem.
5) Repeat Step 3) and Step 4) until you determine a group of services causing the problem. Then check the service one by one until you determine the service that is causing the problem.
If none of the services is the cause, repeat the above steps for the Startup programs and find out which startup program is causing the problem.
If it’s a service or a startup program causing the fan loud problem, you’ll need to disable them.
Method 2: Use BIOS to control fan speed
Generally, the temperature inside your computer will go up when you boot your computer. At the same time, the fan will go faster. However, if the fan speed is not controlled, it can ramp up to max and make loud sounds. So you can check the fan controller settings in BIOS and ensure the fan speed is not set as max. Decrease the fan speed if you need.
Firstly, enter BIOS.
1) Press Win+I to open the Windows Settings window.
2) Select Update & security.
3) Click Recovery and then click the Restart Now button under the Advanced startup section.
4) Click on Troubleshoot.
5) Click on Advanced options.
6) Click on UEFI Firmware settings.
7) Click the Restart button.
Secondly, check fans control settings in BIOS.
1) On the BIOS front page, locate Fan Control Settings.
2) Go to Monitor -> Status -> Fan speed control.
3) Locate RPM settings. Here, you can select the CPU fan to increase or decrease its speed. To remove the fan loud sound on startup, you’ll need to decrease the fan speed.
4) Once done, save the changes and exit BIOS.
Lastly, restart your computer and check to see if the fan is still making loud noise on startup.
Alternatively, you can use the free app SpeedFan to control the fan speed.
Method 3: Clean your fans and vent
Fan noise can be caused by dust building up your computer. This is probably the reason if you haven’t cleaned your PC for a long time. So, clean your fans and vents and see if it helps remove the loud sound on startup.
1) Turn off your computer.
2) unplug all cables.
3) Open up your computer.
4) Use a can of compressed air to remove dust from the fans and vents. You may see more than one fan inside the computer (CPU fan, GPU fan, power supply fan, etc.), just clean the dust off all fans.
If possible, take out the fans especially the CPU fan so you can clean the entire fan.
Keeping your computer running without dust is important. It’s recommended you clean your whole PC periodically like once a month.
Method 4: Replace your fans
Your fans could be broken. If cleaning dust doesn’t work, it may be time to replace your fans.
If you have more than one fan inside the computer, you’ll need to identify the fan which is making the loud sound. It would be best if you can identify the fan by listening carefully. If not, you can stop one fan at a time. Put your finger on the fan hub then the fan will stop. If the sound stops after you stop the fan, you’ll know that fan is the culprit.
Replacing fans requires some advanced computer skills. If you think it’s not easy, you should take your computer to a nearby computer shop for further help.
Hopefully you find this post helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below. I’ll get back to you ASAP.