Simple examination of computer noise ...

So I finally opened up my PC to see where most of the noise was coming from. I asked my brother if he knew how to remove the CPU fan. He thought he did, but his computer was different. So with him yanking on the fan, I thought I heard a slight crack in the Motherboard. At the time, I didn't think anything of it.

So I hooked everything back up and got ready to look online for quiet computer fans. Little did I know, I'd have one problem after the other. Lets explain! lol

First, I turned on the computer (with everything hooked up) and to a great surprise, my graphics card encounted an error where the monitor would shut off when windows started. I could see the Computer boot on the monitor, but right when windows went to load, the monitor shut off.

So I unhooked everything again, opened the computer case and tried unplugging the video card and plugging it back in, and tried turning on the computer again. I figured my brother might have loosened the connection when trying to remove the fan. Anyhow, I hooked everything back up and did I solve it? Of course not! It got worse! Now I couldn't even get any video...not even the original loading of the Operating System that I could see earlier.

So then, I unhooked the video card again and kept trying to see what the problem was. I tried making a better connection, and turn it on, but it had the same error: no video. So I thought I killed my graphics card. So I went to CompUSA and bought a new graphics card. I tested it out, and wow, it worked!

So just for the fun of it, I plugged in my original graphics card. You'd think that my original card was broke since this new one worked instantly....right? Of course not! Now, I could get video again and could see it Boot again! DAMMIT, lol! So what was the problem? My video card didn't have that "absolute exact perfect bonded connection" it needed into the AGP adapter. Did my brother's yanking on the computer fan cause it? I'm not sure, but probably. So are my troubles over now?

NO!!!!! my monitor would still shut off when windows would try to load. So I tried to boot into Safe mode, reinstall my original video card driver. Did this work? YES! I had video again in Windows!

I could see the screen: beautiful! I could see the words I typed on the screen: Beautiful! Problems over? OF COURSE NOT! Now I had no sound at all!

Let me remind you that this adventure all started with trying to discover the noise inside my computer. And when no sound is playing at all, you hear that noise even more! SUICIDE IS NEAR! lol.

So anyway, I didn't want to take any chances with losing data. So I backed up all audio onto DVD discs. At least I had a back up if I made anything worse.

So now I thought I'd try what most people would do. Reinstall the drivers. Did that work? NO, NO, NO, NO. Everytime it was about to finish installing, it'd do the most irritating ever: restart the computer. At this point, I almost wanted to break the computer, lol.

So I looked down at my sound card and seen it had no power light on. I unhooked everything again, opened the case, and tried to give my sound card a better connection since my video card needed it. I hooked everything back up and yes! It worked! I had sound and video! lol. I was visually in peace, audibly in heaven. Life was good!

My nightmare was finally somewhat over. I still do not know what caused everything to go Hay Wire. Yes, I heard what I thought was a slight crack when my brother tried to remove the CPU fan, but everything works now so I dont think he did too much damage. I figure that both cards somehow got loosened.

So after all this, what was causing the noise in my computer? From loudest to quietest:

PC Fan
Hard Drive
Power Supply Fan
Video Card Fan

You'd think this would have only tooken 5 minutes. Instead it took me over 5 hours! I just thought I'd share my struggle today. Don't you love computers?

Simple examination of computer noise leads to near suicide, lol.