"Help! My computer is making a pretty bad noise and I can't turn the music up any louder to cover it up. Is this serious? What should I do?"

Unlike your car mechanic who will sympathetically listen to the "sputter, squeak and gwack" you make for him, we techno-weenies just want you to hand it over. Chances are, there is something loose or worn (like the fan) which will undoubtedly get worse and do more damage than it already has.

Please turn off the computer in a proper fashion and call to have it looked at. When the fan goes, temperature rises and computer parts don't like it hot. They tend to melt and be of no use afterwards.

Yearly maintenance checks will probably foresee this issue making their preventative work invaluable. When was your computer last looked at?