Phew!

I had a bit of scare today with my laptop, when it wouldn't start up in the morning. After a 15 seconds (so, during the boot-up sequence) the fan would start at low speed; after 20 seconds, medium speed; 25 seconds, high speed; and after 30 seconds, it was lights out Irene.

This put me into a bit of funk the whole morning, because so much of my life runs through this little baby. I wasn't afraid of damage to the machine so much as the inconvenience it would cause -- unlike my forced reinstall, this might not be something I could do myself, and with my warranty expired (curse your 1-year terms, Acer!) and the Authorised Service Centre in Hamburg (other end of the country!) there was the possibility of significant downtime & cost involved.

Remembering that the fan had been making an irritating whine the past day, and running more often than usual, I surmised that the problem was either with the fan itself, or that something had overheated and fried. The service tech at uni reckoned the symptoms supported the fan diagnosis (with the computer shutting off automatically to prevent fryage), and suggested simple dust as an explanation.

Not game to dismantle my preciousss just yet, I looked around for a service centre closer to home. Ringing one in Mannheim, the chap had asked me if I'd taken my laptop apart and given it a clean myself yet. I replied in the negative, but buoyed by his nonchalance regarding the idea I decided to take the bull by the.. screws and give it a go.

Long story short: with the aid of a screwdriver, a well-placed access cover and a can of compressed air, my dusty fan is clogged no more.

Aaah, compressed air -- is there anything it can't do?