New
#1
Fan potentially broken after removing grilles
Well, this is embarrassing.
During a recent overhaul of my computer, which has yielded countless issues (see here for more info on that), I decided that I could help address my dying fan's issue by giving it more air. I gave it more air in the form of breaking off the little grilles that prevent stuff from getting in it with a pocket knife. This was the result.
Afterwards, I was feeling very proud of myself for not breaki- Crap. I start the bootup sequence and get an error saying my fan isn't working properly. Hmm. I restart it again and, oh boy was that message wrong. Immediately I get a noise direct from Satan himself; the loudest squeal a Chinese fan can make. At this point I'm wondering how badly I screwed up. Any ideas?