What is CPU Fan Error? 7 Ways to Fix CPU Fan Error Easily

What does a CPU fan do?

CPU you know, the brain of the computer. Well, this brain has many printed circuit boards and chips inside it. When we go overboard on the number of programs we run on the computer, these chips and circuits are pushed to their limits. This causes the entire thing to heat up.

Now because too much heat can ruin the system, there is a need to cool the system when the temperature rises above a certain value in such emergency cases. That’s where the CPU fan comes into play. It gets rid of the excess heat by providing cool air thereby preventing heavy damage to the system.

What is CPU fan error?

Well, it’s an error message that appears on the screen when starting up a computer after it shut down due to overheating and the CPU fan was unable to cool it sufficiently. The error message “CPU Fan Error” or “Error: CPU Fan Has Failed” rarely appears during regular usage, it usually appears during a boot-up or startup.

If the error message didn’t appear and the forced shut down didn’t occur then the computer would continue to overheat without a sufficiently working CPU fan and cause permanent damage to a lot of components within the CPU.

So despite the fact that the whole process is annoying it actually means that your computer is working as per the safety guidelines and hence working properly.

What might cause it?

There is a wide range of reasons that can cause this particular error message to flash on your screen. It might be due to the physical damage that the fan might have sustained, settings that might be set incorrectly or external factors that might force the fan to run at unusually high speeds to cool down the overheated system.

Even dust or other objects obstructing the system’s air vents can cause such malfunctions. Cleaning your system first would the first thing to accomplish to troubleshoot CPU fan error causing computer shuts down.

Fix CPU Fan Error

There are several things you can try in order to deal with CPU fan error. Let’s waste no more time and dive straight into them.

1. Altering your computer’s position

Sometimes the constant cause of the error might be the position of your computer. If the CPU is constantly exposed to high amounts of electromagnetic radiation from solar origin or sunlight as normal people call it or heat from other sources’ it would give a hard time to the CPU fan. Simply moving the system to a cooler location would solve this problem.

2. Avoid overclocking

Overclocking means pushing the chips in the CPU beyond their specs to acquire higher performance Due to overclocking the heat generated increases to a great extent which is beyond the capabilities of the CPU fan.

3. Keeping the air vents clean

When dust and other debris collects over the surface of air vents it interferes with the air circulation and causes a decrease in the cooling process as a whole. It can be cleaned using a vacuum cleaner or by using an airgun or by other suitable methods.

4. Keeping the CPU fan clean

You can clean the fan with a suitable method such as a brush, a vacuum cleaner or an airgun. But to open the CPU you need to first power down the computer, unplug it from power and then open it.

Note :

• Refrain from using any cleaning reagents.
• In case of some devices opening it up might affect its warranty, refer to your device’s official support manual before proceeding to this method.

5. Check the CPU fan

Sometimes, the CPU fan might be loose or may have fallen out of place. You may be able to fasten your fan with glue or screwdriver. Periodic checking is also recommendable.

6. Ensuring the location of the fan

The fan should be connected to the CPU header on the motherboard. If it is connected elsewhere or if there are multiple headers then changing it from the current location would fix the error.

7. Adjusting settings in BIOS

BIOS stands for Basic Input Output System which software stored on a small memory chip on the motherboard. To open BIOS restart your computer and look out for an “entering setup message” in the first few seconds and press the required key. Sometimes you’ll be prompted to press the F1 key when the initial CPU error message is received and doing so will open BIOS.

After opening the BIOS proceed with the following steps:

• Select Advanced Settings > Hardware Monitor > CPU Fan. 
• Enable Active Heat Sink and Fan Duct with Fan and disable Passive Heat Sink and Fan Duct without Fan. 
• Save your changes and exit BIOS.

If the CPU fan is working properly and the system is not overheating then use this change in BIOS settings to fix the error:

To do this, open BIOS and select Monitor > Fan Speed Monitor > N/A > Ignore > Exit > Save Changes.

7. Replacing the CPU fan

If none of the above solutions worked then there is a good chance that the fan is damaged and needs to be replaced. Just enter your processor model online and it will present you to related fans.

Wrapping up,

In this article, we have listed out all the possible solutions to fix this problem. If you have any queries, do write to us.