This is almost certainly a Power Supply issue, but I'm a little surprised
the CPU fan continues to spin when the PS fan is not.
Do the other two fans spin very easily when you use the pencil? There should
be no detectable resistance.
The PS fan should spin all the time. Some case fans may have speed controls
based on temperature.
I would just replace the PSU, but there are testers available. I have
replaced these fans from time to time to save money, but I have a ready
supply of them.
These guys have been reliable for me in the past:
http://www.atxpowersupplies.com/


On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 5:04 PM, Joe Trimarchi <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I have an HP Pavilion running Win XP SP3. On Friday it suddenly shut down
> while I was using it. I have no idea what happened and pressing the on/off
> button didn't do anything until I pulled the plug and then plugged it back
> in. It did restart and I continued to use it throughout the day. The
> following morning it was off when I went to use it and again I had to pull
> the plug and then plug it back in to get it to restart. It dawned on me
> that
> it might be overheating but I don't know how to tell. Anyway I opened the
> case and could see that 2 out of 3 fans were not running. The fan on the
> CPU
> was running but the fan on the power supply and the one that cools the
> inside were both not. I gently prodded them with a pencil and after several
> tries they reluctantly and slowly started to spin up to speed. Are they
> supposed to run all the time or only intermittently? The computer has been
> up and running for about 30 minutes and both fans are still running. The
> inside of the case was not very dusty. I had cleaned it about 1 1/2 years
> ago when I added some memory. If both fans are supposed to always run what
> would make them both stop? It looks like the fan that cools the inside of
> the case might be easy to replace if I can find the replacement but the one
> on the power supply looks like it might be more difficult or would the
> whole
> power supply need to be replaced. I'm assuming if both fans are always
> supposed to be running then my assumption of overheating may be correct.
> Does this sound logical and if so should the fans be replaced or should I
> just wait and see what happens. I've has this machine over 7 years and
> don't
> really want to put any money into it but I'm also hoping to hold off buying
> a replacement until the next Windows operating system is released and I
> hear
> that may be fairly soon.
>
> Looking forward to any thoughts and suggestions.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Joe Trimarchi
>
>
>

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