fan won't stop
 

this may be silly, but is the fan supposed to be on the entire time I'm using Linux? And if it is, why?

ehmm, which fan are we talking about?, the one hunged from the ceiling in your room, or one of the many fans that cools down your pc?, hehehe

hey, everyone's a comedian! :)
I mean the fan inside the CPU. But if the fan on the ceiling goes out, too, I'll be sure to shout out your way. LOL
thanks in advance.

hehheh, nice one :D

but, ok, lets understand your question a little bit better. You have the fan, and you are used to the fan stoping while your are using windows??, or what?
I mean, it could be an auxiliary fan in yor computer, which comes on if it gets pretty hot inside.
But please a little more info to understand the nature of your question, :)
cheers!

If you are talking about the fan on your CPU that should never stop on any OS unless the power is off! If it does be prepared to buy a new CPU unless you are using a P3 they seem to not even require a fan.