Can you help an idiot?

I have a computer question. I'm not really savvy when it comes to maintenance...though I do de-frag & erase cookies regularly.

Lately...my computer has been running a little slower than usual...and it starts to run really loud. It sounds like a jet-engine about to take off. It usually does that for about 45 seconds...then goes back to normal. Do you have any idea what that might be?

Thanks,

An Idiot

Might be the fan intake needs cleaning . Or your hard drive may be dying

Sounds to me like a dying fan bearing. Not usually too much of a problem to fix.

The slowdown is probably not related to the noise.

That's possible too. So, your next moves are:

1: Do Backups of your irreplaceable stuff. Do them now. If it is the HD, you'll be glad you did.

2: Get help from someone who cares - probably because you're paying them.

Have you ever cleaned out the inside of your computer? Cause that's really important. Get a can of air to blow the built up dust out.

Do you have a disk in the drive? (cd/dvd)

Dear Idiot,

Define "running a little slow". Does that mean it's taking longer than usual for programs to load, it's taking longer for it to boot up when you turn it on...? Also, what kind of computer are we talking about here? Matter of fact, why didn't you just email me and shit?

Love, Stan