Gateway running Win XP (5.1) (2002)

For months my computer has occasionally made this high pitched whine.

Its not a beep, its not the sound thingy inside that beeps, chirps whatever. It is is very high frequency screechy type of whine. Its coming from the tower itself, not the monitor, not the key board, not the speakers - just the tower.

I have opened it up, poked and prodded the fans thinking it may be a bearing on the fans - the noise is similar to a bearing going out but much, much higher than that.

It is barely on the threshold of human hearing. But Sirius does the RCA Dog head tilt and looks at the computer. Ya know the dog - image found here: http: http://www.tvacres.com/adanimals_nipperrca.htm

At first I thought it was my hearing aid going - its similar to the high pitched squelch of a hearing aid doing the feed back thing - but much higher in pitch. And not as loud either - its barely heard, but there and annoying.

At first it was sporadic, only making that noise for the first 15 minutes when the computer was turned on, now months later it makes the noise randomly, even though the computer is on all the time.

None of the cards are loose. I have blown and vacuumed all of the dust and debris so I doubt it is a heat issue. My system works perfectly, doesn't slow down, doesn't appear to have any issues software/functioning wise.

I am at a loss of what it could be. Any idea?

Sounds like your blower/cooling fan is burning out.

Ours did that.

Hmm. A bearing perhaps.

I guess I will have to contact Gateway to find out what make/model fan it requires.

thanks.

David My method is a bit easier Open up the side of the computer put it on the the table
with no lead attached bar the Power Cord
Now Start the Computer and you should be able to pinpoint the Fan which is whining easier?
Processor Fans are cheap! Ditto casing fans
And a clean out of Dust (if you haven't done this) will make a marked Improvement (A Job I do yearly) Requires dismantling the Processor
fan assembly and Cleaning out the delicate Heatsink fins (behind which will be packed with Dust)

NOTE My special tool for this Job is...
A dampened cottonbud stick/swab Can blow away most of the loose dust

And the whine? It could be a simple as a fragment of Paper been sucked in and obscuring the air passage

Mine had a similar problem. It was the fan on the video card.