my laptop just let off a really loud alarm and went blank

[DotH]

now the fan underneath seems to have stopped working. Can i have accidentally switched it off?

[mattfox]

I don't know of any way to switch off the fan manually - they should come on when it gets to a certain temperature....

It sounds like the fans malfunctioned which lead to a rapid increase in heat so it sounded the alarm and shut down to prevent more damage.

I'd get it looked at to be on the safe side...

Matt

[DotH]

cheers matt, i've only had this thing a few months!!!!!!!

[mattfox]

Still under warranty then :) Cool!

I had to send my laptop back twice because it kept overheating - the first time they said it was the harddrive and replaced it, the second time they re-seated the heat sync.

It's worth vacuuming out the fans from time to time to. Plus, if you keep it on your lap, make sure you're not blocking the air intake if they're on the bottom!

[Sphinx_Svens]

I'd go with mattfox ... sounds like the fan stopped and the 'overheat alarm' shut down the laptop..

[Kerplunk]

And I'm with Sphinx_Svens... I agree with mattfox.