the fan shouldn't run with the heatsink since the heatsink is draining away the heat. removing the heatsink means that the computer has to use its fan.
Herb...
I have an older out-of-warranty Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop, and it doesn't seem like the motherboard fan is running very often, if at all. The fan runs when I start the computer up if I remove the heat sink, but if the sink is screwed back in, the fan doesn't go. Should the fan be running all the time, or does it only start when the heatsink is not off because the processor is hot?
I'm worried about running the computer without the fan, as it seems to get very hot fairly quickly, and I don't want to fry anything. Thanks!

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