I recently got a fully loaded Dell 1720 laptop and am delighted with it except for one small issue. There is a persistent and soft, but very high pitched whining sound coming from the computer’s speakers. It’s not a continuous sound - it comes in half-second bursts, over and over again. Sometimes it is more noticeable than others. But it is starting to drive me insane.
An ordinary person might not even notice it, but I have the ears of a hound dog and can detect quiet noises much more easily than most people, and they drive me crazy. Sometimes I have even had anxiety attacks brought on by extremely high pitched, continuous noises, such as from certain kinds of light bulbs.
What am I to do about this? Is there something I can adjust manually in the computer’s settings? Or do I have to send it in for repair?
note: a search has revealed that many other people have this same program. Some blame it on the speakers and claim that it goes away if something is plugged into the audio jack. Others say the motherboard is the problem (how could this be?) Some said that it’s related to the core duo processor and to download a program called RMClock that will manage the power settings automatically and reduce the whine or eliminate it totally. I downloaded but it didn’t help.
Alright sports fans, I’m happy to report that after some tinkering and some more research, I have completely eliminated the whining noise by going into the Processor tab in the RMClock program and disabling “C4 mode.”
He also suggests disabling C4 mode, but only as a temporary fix (disabling it permanently may shorten battery life). He solved the problem by isolating two metal tabs within the computer. Of course, the drawback there is you have to open up the box and that always involves risk (and a possibly voided guarantee).
I chiefly use this machine while it’s plugged in - for all intents and purposes it is a portable desktop computer, not a laptop. The battery has a worthless life already, I never work off of battery power on this.