Sarah, Do you have a headset handy? Try plugging it in, and leave your netbook running for the given time. Do you still hear the buzzing sound? If now, the buzzing sound comes through the headset, you will definitely know, it has to do with your sound card. The drivers could be one problem. Also, there could be a bad componennt in your sound card, which will cause buzzing when it gets heated through some usage. If the latter, it would be a matter of warranty, for you to discuss with the store where you bought the computer, or directly with Acer.
If on the other hand, the buzzing sound can be heard outside the headset, you more likely are looking at a hardware problem. Try, for the matter of being totally sure, to put aside your headset as far as the cable goes. Then lean your ear toward the netbook itself, to discern whether that is where the sound comes from. Next, if you have confirmed from the above, that the buzzing is located in the netbook itself. Feel your way around the case of the netbook. You will likely find a spot, where there would be a few tiny slots, from which you feel warm air flowing. This would be the fan-outlet. Typically, this might be on one side of the unit. Now, gently lift up the netbook, and lean your ear to one side of the unit; then to the other side of the unit. Is the buzzing sound noticeably louder near the fan-outlet? A third test, is if this happens not too long after your starting the netbook. Immediately when starting the computer, hold your hand in front of the fan-outlet. Notice the air flow, and temperature. Let the notebook run, and perform your normal activity. When the buzzing sound comes around, again put your hand in front of the fan-outlet. Is it noticeably mor hot, and do you notice quite a stronger air flow? If any of the two last things would be the case, your cooling fan might have a bit of trouble. I do say might, as it could be the first signal of a bad fan - and that would eventually cause your netbook overheating, and finally die for good. Still, I have seen a few models of laptops, where the fan is quite noisy. One model I have here, litterally sound more like a hair-drier when it speeds up. Changing the fan, did no tricdk. It simply is a matter of the way the fan and case are constructed. My old Acer, also was known to be rather noisy in its fan, even from the factory shipment. Still, if you can localize the buzzing sound to come from the fan, I do suggest you contact the store or manufacturer, to determine if this might be a known feature of the netbook model, or if it is something to be handled as part of the warranty. Having all of this said, be aware that there could be a number of other things causing the buzzing sound. It all depends on the actual sound, the strength and localization. A slightly defect in your hard disk, could cause a sound, without that meaning any further "Danger". Even your monitor might be the cause. You might think the sound comes from the netbook itself, but if you start to lean your ear to the unit, you might be surprised that the power supply - which I take is a separate unit - could be the sound source. Buzzing power supplies have been a trouble of numerous electronic units, and household appliances. One easy way to determine if this would be where the problem nests, is to put your ear to the power supply. Another way, would be to try unplugging the power supply, next time the sound occurs. Plugging in, and unplugging the power supply for a few times, could help determining if the sound somehow relates to the charging process of your netbook. If it does, this usually poses no real danger to your system, and mainly just will serve as a frustrationing disturbance in your computer experience when comes to sound level. Muting your sound card, is STRONGLY discouraged, unless you have some sighted assistance, or a Braille display around. Muting the sound card, would prevent you from hearing any of Window-Eyes' speech. Even restarting the computer, would not fix this. And trying to unmute the sound card with none of the above assistance, would be more of a guesswork. Hope any of this will help you trace your buzzer. ----- Original Message ----- From: Sarah Baughn To: Chip Orange ; [email protected] Sent: Monday, May 28, 2012 7:31 PM Subject: Re: acer netbook Two questions, then. If I mute the sound card, how would WindowEyes be heard? Second, how do I mute the sound card? Sarah From: Chip Orange Sent: Monday, May 28, 2012 11:52 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: acer netbook If it's a soundcard issue, muting the soundcard should make it stop. It sounds to me like a cooling fan issue, and yes, it could be dangerous to the netbook. I absolutely agree with Vic (and thanks Vic for this tip, I want a little really portible (and cheap) notebook, so I'll look at this); I would always look at these types of laptops over a netbook, which cost almost as much and which are much slower. Chip ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, May 28, 2012 10:54 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: acer netbook Sometimes the buzzing noise can come from the fan. Another cause is the audio driver, see if you can get an update. The other is caused by the processor over heating. Hard to be more specific without knowing exactly how the buzz sounds. BTW, if anyone is considering a netbook, HP has an 11 inch laptop which works very nicely. It doesn't use the Atom processor and has more horse power and memory than netbooks. It is only an inch or so larger and doesn't cost much more than a netbook. Runs WE very nicely with Windows 7. The model I know of is an HP DM1-3245CA. The CA must mean only available in Canada, but I am sure there are other models for outside of Canada that don't have the bilingual option. It has a 640GB hard drive. Comes with 4 GB of memory which can be expanded to 8 GB with a total of 2 slots. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Sarah Baughn [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, May 28, 2012 9:44 AM To: [email protected] Subject: acer netbook I have an Acer netbook, and at times, especially when I have more than one program running or I’ve left it on for a while, the thing will just start buzzing, and I have to do a manual shutdown. What could be causing this, and is it dangerous to the computer?—aside from the fact that I manually shut it off, of course. Sarah If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. 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