Hard Drive Making Noise

[xlu21]

I had this computer a lil over a year. Yesterday the hard drive started to make a wierd noise when for example opening an application ect ect. Do I need to change the drive? I've made a full back up just in case, It also got slow.
I checked for virus, spyware, defrag, disk clean,chdsk. What else can I do?

 

[dseaver]

Sounds as though it may be going mechanically. Out of curiosity, what brand is it? Seagate carries a 5 year warranty

 

[xwb]

What kind of noise? Is it a whine, scraping noise, hammering noise?

 

[xlu21]

Its like a light hammering noise...

 

[paparazi]

Most carry a 3year warranty although you will need to deal direct with the manufacturers to get a return RMA.
Go to warranty claims, punch in the drives serial number and it should tell you instantly if it is still covered.
They are quite strict about return packaging, the drive needs to be sealed in an antistatic bag and boxed with sponge or similar to protect from shocks.
Clicking noises just get worse.
Martin

On wings like angels whispers sweet
my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
Brown eyes are lost afar and sleep

 

[gbaughma]

The light hammering noise (kind of a soft "tink" every so often) is indicative of a head starting to go.

What you are hearing is the drive losing its indexing, and the "tink" is the heads re-zeroing against the stop.

Usually, when a drive starts to do this, it's not long for this world.



Just my 2¢
-Cole's Law: Shredded cabbage

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Stella740pl]

I wonder if it is something similar to my recently replaced on warranty hard drive (after long on-line chats with Dell representatives, they finally agreed that it was hard drive problem and that they would replace it).

My drive was making a ticking noise, a sort of repeated "tick·tock", as that made by a clock. After that the system froze for some 30 seconds, then went dead, complete with the "blue screen of death". Sometimes it happened every few minutes, and sometimes only once every few days. A few times, closer to its end, it didn't want to boot after that, so a few times I had to use Windows CD to boot and repair the system. After that only Dell agreed to replace it.

Even though I had a complete backup, I installed XP and the software from scratch on the new drive I got - just in case.

 

[gbaughma]

Sounds like the same issue.



Just my 2¢
-Cole's Law: Shredded cabbage

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Stella740pl]

Thanks. I guess I needed a confirmation myself that the problem was with the hard drive and not something else that is still there.

 

[Sympology]

Not sure where your based, but I once found it was cheaper to buy a replacement that pay for the shipping !

Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[Stella740pl]

I guess it is because you are in UK. (I would guess shipping across the pond is not cheap - but more expensive than a new hard drive? Really?)
I am in USA.

Since it was on warranty, I didn't have to pay anything at all.

They sent me a replacement (a refurbished drive of the same capacity) and a return sticker (valid all over USA, not sure about Canada). All I had to do is put the old drive in the same packaging, and put the sticker they sent over the existing sticker on the box.