title: Programmatically access CPU fan on a laptop? (Windows)
body: <p>Is there a Windows standard way to do things such as "start fan", "decrease speed" or the like, from C/C++?</p>
  
  <p>I have a suspicion it might be ACPI, but I am a frail mortal and cannot read that kind of documentation.</p>
  
  <p>Edit: e.g. Windows 7 lets you select in your power plan options such as "passive cooling" (only when things get hot?) vs. "active cooling" (keep the CPU proactively cool?). It seems the OS does have a way to control the fan generically.</p>