topic Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ? in PCs & Accessories

Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

Rob-UK — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:23:43 GMT

Hi, can you tell me if the fan on a Sony Vaio is supposed to be on all of the time ?

My laptop is a Sony Vaio AR51SU, the fan is on all of the time at various speeds. Sometimes it runs at a lower speed when its in idle and then it runs a lot quicker when you have an application open like a browser etc. This is my first vaio laptop, with previous laptops ive had like a toshiba as an example the fan has only come on when its needed, it stayed off for most of the time and you never heard it.

Is this normal for my Vaio laptop to be doing this where the fan stays on all of the time, its just i`m not familiar with Vaio`s and how they are supposed to perform.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

itbroker — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:21:06 GMT

Hi Rob-UK and Welcome to ClubVaio :smileygrin: !

We have many possibilities here.

1) Virus / Spyware / ...

Have you a good anti virus software installed ?

2) Processes

Let you laptop idle, just what you need to do is to activate the Task manager and see the processes running. Normally, the should stay at 0% or 1% of CPU usage. Some processes, could be at 50% of CPU usage. To have a deep information about processes, will can download the software Process Explorer and take a look at Process Library

3) Dust

Can you consider that its laptop is "dirty" and you need to clean ?

If you consider that you have enough experience to clean your laptop by yourself, you will find several guides over the internet. IF you are not a experienced user, just find a technical service.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

Rob-UK — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:52:13 GMT

Hi, thanks for the reply

1. My antivurus/firewall is Eset Smart Security 4.
2. My laptop idles at between 0 and 1%
3. I only bought this laptop in October as a new laptop and the fan has always been this way where it is always on, even with nothing open and when idling at 0 or 1% you can here the fan running, the fan is quieter when the laptop is in idle but it still remains on.

Is it normal for Sony Vaio laptops like mine which is an AR series to have the fan constantly running or should it not be this way ?

Here is my process and performance.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/wires4eva/task-manager1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/wires4eva/task-manager.jpg

I`m running windows vista ultimate 32 bit that came installed, ove donme a fresh install of windows recently and that hasn`t changed the fan running all the time. I have 3GB of memory, it was the same when i had the standard 2GB of memory installed so i added an extra 1GB to see if this eliminated the fan running all the time but it hasn`t.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

itbroker — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:45:59 GMT

We have another possibility here... :smileygrin:

Please, put Vista in energy saving mode AND select the silent mode in Vaio control center.

Doubts ?. Just look at Page 110 and 111 from manual. here

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

micdonal — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:00:09 GMT

Rob I've had a vaio AR51SU for over a year now and the fan is hardly ever audible. Try running Mbam (Malwarebytes Anti Malware).

EDIT
I've just had a look at your 1st image. In task manager click on "show processes from all user" to get a fuller picture of the processes consuming resources.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

Rob-UK — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:03:46 GMT

Rob I've had a vaio AR51SU for over a year now and the fan is hardly ever audible. Try running Mbam (Malwarebytes Anti Malware).

EDIT
I've just had a look at your 1st image. In task manager click on "show processes from all user" to get a fuller picture of the processes consuming resources.

Quacker, thanks for your reply, that is the sort of info i was after from another AR series user so they could tell me if this is normal for this particular model, so basically i should not really be able to hear the fan, is it supposed to go off and come on with a heat type sensor rather than be on all the time ?

I use spybot S&D as my anti spyware software and that comes up clean, my anti virus comes up clean, ive recently done a fresh install of windows with all the latest driver updates and its still the same.

Here are my msconfig settings for the programmes which run at start up, i have already disabled quite a few. Also underneath is the full process you asked for.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

Thalamus. — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:44:25 GMT

Hi Rob,

welcome to Club VAIO..

Have you tried selecting a different power plan.?

Click the power icon in the system tray and select a different plan..

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

micdonal — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:55:26 GMT

That's right Rob. Even during an AV scan I can barely hear the fan.
It still may be worth trying Mbam though, as a second opinion. It seems it's either "too busy" for the work it's doing, or too hot. Maybe try a few more suggestions here first, but you may need to log a call with Sony.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

Rob-UK — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:26:32 GMT

Try running Mbam (Malwarebytes Anti Malware).

The results of my Mbam scan are below, its come back clean. I don`t know if this is related but when my laptop boots up their is a pause for about 2 mins after the windows loading bar page, it just displays a black screen for about 2 mins with hardly any hard drive activity apart from the odd little flicker occasionally. After the long pause everything starts to load again as normal and i reach the password protected log on page, when i eventually reach the desktop with everything loaded up the orange light for hard disc activity can keep on going for around 5 minutes after the desktop has fully booted, ive no idea what the hard discs are doing during that time.

Results of Mbam.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

itbroker — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:53:41 GMT

Rob-UK,

I gave you the pages to find how to change the Vista energy saving mode and how to select the silent mode in Vaio control center. Did you try ?

To have sure about a Spyware FREE computer, a good tool is : Malicious Software Removal Tool

To improve performance, you can try the TuneUp Utilities 2009 Free Trial

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

jumpsuit — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:09:11 GMT

Have you checked the temperatures internally?
PC Wizard is good for checking core temps etc

PCWizard

Just click the right download on that page, some will take you elsewhere 😕

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

Rob-UK — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:58:57 GMT

We have another possibility here...  :smileygrin: 

Please, put Vista in energy saving mode AND select the silent mode in Vaio control center.

Doubts ?. Just look at Page 110 and 111 from manual. here

Where is the setting that allows you to put Vista in energy saving mode ?

Also i don`t see any setting in Vaio control centre that allows to put the laptop in silent mode ?

My current power plan is "balanced" with the monitor brightness turned down to half way, i always run my laptop from the mains and never use the battery.

I looked at page 110, its just the basic Vaio user settings for things like power save mode which i have put above what mine is, hibernation and lamp settings etc.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

Rob-UK — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:59:52 GMT

Have you checked the temperatures internally?
PC Wizard is good for checking core temps etc

Hi, i have Everest installed on my pc so i`m able to give the operating temps.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

stone69 — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:22:22 GMT

I think we should keep track on the initial question. Rob-UK's question was if it's normal for the fan running all the time.
Quackers88 experience is just referring to the fan not being audible during idle or low level operation of the notebook. But is it running or not?

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

itbroker — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:37:49 GMT

Where is the setting that allows you to put Vista in energy saving mode ?
here... (See the .doc file)

Some of the controls items will be not be visible if you open Vaio Control Center as a standard user.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

Rob-UK — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:59:10 GMT

Thanks for all the opinions and advice so far but i`m not really getting the answer i need with the fan issue.

What i need to know is, should the fan be on all the time on a AR series Vaio ? My model is the AR51SU.

All previous laptops ive owned like a Toshiba Satellite as an example the fan has come on only when needed as if its working on a thermostat type sensor system where the laptop gets to a certain temp and the fan kicks in to cool it down and then switches off when not needed.

On my Vaio the fan runs all the time at different sound levels, its a higher speed and sound when an application is open and a lower speed when in idle but the fan remains on all the time, i can`t see the life of the fan being a long one if it runs all the time.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

micdonal — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:53:32 GMT

Hi Rob,
all I can say is that during normal use of my AR51SU ie viewing 3 to 4 forums simultaneously, or watching tv I don't hear my fan at all. Is it running? I don't know, but if it is, I can't hear it. Sometimes if I'm watching a BluRay film or even a dvd I can just about hear the fan, but only just. If I run an AV scan at the fastest scan settings I will hear the fan a little bit more but it's certainly never been loud.
Good luck

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

itbroker — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 06:08:51 GMT

Rob-UK,

After consider ALL comments and no real answer for you was found, I want to scale this post to Sony support.

Please, give me 02 days and I will back with some news for you.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

Rob-UK — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:34:39 GMT

Rob-UK,

After consider ALL comments and no real answer for you was found, I want to scale this post to Sony support.

Please, give me 02 days and I will back with some news for you.

Thats much appreciated, many thanks for taking the time to do this.

Re: Sony Vaio AR series laptop, should the fan be on all the time ?

Rob-UK — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:25:57 GMT

Please, give me 02 days and I will back with some news for you.

I was just wondering if you had any news at all ?