Last night, my work computer starting making a funny noise — not a good funny noise, but a bad funny noise, like a bearing going out. I couldn’t tell whether it was my hard disk or just the fan, but I didn’t want to take chances. I called computer support, got a ticket number after probably half an hour on hold, and then walked to the support area with my computer.
Because I thought the noise might be thermally related, I restarted the computer when I got there. Unfortunately, by the time I was first in line, the noise had decreased to the point the it could barely be heard.
The support guy got a can of compressed air and blew it into the side of my computer. I swear, enough lint flew out to explain the unmatched sock in my sock bin. Could that be it? (How did that lint get in there? I’ve only had this computer for a few months!)
Update: Now that my computer has been plugged in for a while, the noise is back, and clearly audible over the running dishwasher — not good.