A technician is troubleshooting a computer that has a loud system fan and randomly freezes and reboots. Which of the following is the most likely cause of these issues?

The correct answer is D. Overheating processor. A loud system fan is the cooling system working at maximum capacity to dissipate excess heat. When the CPU temperature exceeds safe thresholds, the system will freeze or perform an emergency reboot to prevent physical damage - a built-in thermal protection mechanism. These two sy

Hardware and network troubleshooting

Question

Options

AFailing hard drive
BDefective power supply
CIncompatible hardware
DOverheating processor

How the community answered

(62 responses)

A
5% (3)
B
3% (2)
C
13% (8)
D
79% (49)

Explanation

A loud system fan is the cooling system working at maximum capacity to dissipate excess heat. When the CPU temperature exceeds safe thresholds, the system will freeze or perform an emergency reboot to prevent physical damage - a built-in thermal protection mechanism. These two symptoms together are a classic indicator of an overheating processor. A failing hard drive (A) typically causes read/write errors and slow performance, not thermal symptoms. A defective power supply (B) causes random shutdowns but not a loud fan response. Incompatible hardware (C) usually causes immediate boot failures or BSODs, not heat-related behavior.

Topics

#Troubleshooting#Overheating#Processor#System cooling

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