damaged laptop

Hi everybody
I'm new here, and I'm not so cluey about computer hardware.
When a fan is not working there is a chance that the CPU and/or the motherboard is damaged, I believe? How do I tell?
This toshiba-clone laptop fell off the desk, been repaired, but kept shutting down. Then I got it.
Since I've had it, it's just getting worse. Not starting now, but attempting to with a long beep. I found the fan was not working and a piece of plastic in its housing. Maybe that was blocking the fan and made it burn out. Would it burn out if it was blocked?
I'm thinking of finding a new fan on ebay to see if that was the problem.
Cheers,
furball

The single long beep often means the cpu fan isn't turning, so a new fan could do it, assuming the chip hasn't been damaged by heat if it were on when the fan wasn't working. Can't hurt to try, though you may want a shop to do the switch if you aren't really comfortable inside computers, since laptops can be more tricky than desktops.

Thanks for your reply Dave.
I haven't done much poking about inside laptops, but I thought this looks quite straightforward.
The fan compartment is held in with 4 screws that have to be tightened in a certain sequence, and there is what looks like a plug-in connection for the wires. Is there more to it than that?

furball

Probably not. If you have a bit of ability and have made sure you understand what you're doing, you shouldn't have any problems. I just have the disclaimer in there for people who don't know which end of the screwdriver to use, and have never seen the inside of a computer before.
Good luck