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Nickygoat

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 11, 2004
992
0
London
I know this is not a Boot Camp problem but I know there are a lot of technically savvy users on here, and I can't find an answer Googling around.
My girlfriends Win XP laptop refuses to boot up. It reaches the bootup screen (the one with the Press Esc, F2 and F12 commands) but after that it comes up with the error message "Thermal fan works abnormally - this computer will shut down in 8 seconds". It then shuts down.
Holding F8 to get into Safe Mode just freezes the whole thing, necessitating a hard reset.
She doesn't have the original discs (they're in Denmark) but I can probably get hold of an XP disc.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
 

Killyp

macrumors 68040
Jun 14, 2006
3,859
7
It's not XP that's the problem. It sounds like a BIOS error, or possibly a hardware (fan or motherboard) failure. I'd take the machine into a computer store, somewhere that really knows what they're talking about...
 

Nickygoat

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 11, 2004
992
0
London
Killyp said:
It's not XP that's the problem. It sounds like a BIOS error, or possibly a hardware (fan or motherboard) failure. I'd take the machine into a computer store, somewhere that really knows what they're talking about...
I thought that might be the problem. Hoping it wasn't but......
Nearest place is PC World :eek: - don't think I'll be taking it there.
Thanks for the help.
 

iCeQuBe

macrumors regular
May 19, 2005
122
0
CT
Nickygoat said:
I know this is not a Boot Camp problem but I know there are a lot of technically savvy users on here, and I can't find an answer Googling around.
My girlfriends Win XP laptop refuses to boot up. It reaches the bootup screen (the one with the Press Esc, F2 and F12 commands) but after that it comes up with the error message "Thermal fan works abnormally - this computer will shut down in 8 seconds". It then shuts down.
Holding F8 to get into Safe Mode just freezes the whole thing, necessitating a hard reset.
She doesn't have the original discs (they're in Denmark) but I can probably get hold of an XP disc.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.

You could go into the bios on bootup and disable that warning. It could just be a sensor that is bad the problem is if it is a fan that is bad you could end up frying a CPU or Northbridge chip. You best bet is to take it to an authorized repair center. Is it still under warranty by any chance?
 

Nickygoat

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 11, 2004
992
0
London
iCeQuBe said:
You could go into the bios on bootup and disable that warning. It could just be a sensor that is bad the problem is if it is a fan that is bad you could end up frying a CPU or Northbridge chip. You best bet is to take it to an authorized repair center. Is it still under warranty by any chance?
How do I get into BIOS if it freezes on startup? Any key combo makes it freeze.
I'm worried about frying the mobo but if it does at least I can get her to buy a MacBook ;)
No - I don't it's under warranty any more. And if it is that would be in Denmark and she's not going back for a month.
 

iCeQuBe

macrumors regular
May 19, 2005
122
0
CT
Nickygoat said:
How do I get into BIOS if it freezes on startup? Any key combo makes it freeze.
I'm worried about frying the mobo but if it does at least I can get her to buy a MacBook ;)
No - I don't it's under warranty any more. And if it is that would be in Denmark and she's not going back for a month.


Well if hitting F2 or whatever the key is to get into the bios makes it freezer then I thin kyou are out of luck. I thought it froze just when you went into windows safe mode with F8. Sorry.
 

madog

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2004
1,273
1
Korova Milkbar
iCeQuBe said:
You could go into the bios on bootup and disable that warning. It could just be a sensor that is bad the problem is if it is a fan that is bad you could end up frying a CPU or Northbridge chip. You best bet is to take it to an authorized repair center. Is it still under warranty by any chance?

It may be a real problem and your CPU might be getting so hot and worked up that it just stops working. Changing your BIOs might just be a temporary solution to a bigger problem.
 
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