My HP Pavillion 512n has two fans inside. One is in the heavy, silver box that the power supply goes into, the hard drive I believe. That fan is stuck, not spinning and overheating. It causes my PC to shut down spontaneously. Do I replace the hard drive itself? Or the fan? Or the entire big box?

shell, August 2005

it might also be just clogged up with gunge
Thatll stop it working take it out and have a look.

Mark Corby, August 2005

You replace the psu(power supply unit) but make sure you get get the correct voltage etc typically an old comp has 250 volts and a newish one p4 athlon has 300 -400 volts
Cost about 10 15 poundsish
best bet is take the old one out by undoing the 4 screws at back that hold it in place itll tell you volts watts etc
get a match for it
and take it somewhere for a replacement or look on the internet
Make sure you have the right connectors tho
A p4 replacement has an extra lead that an athlon doesnt
its a white plug thing
the old type are universal
Hope this helps
Regards mark

Mark Corby, August 2005