Pc making cracking noise

Bu11et_Proof

was just loading in some programs on to my pc today and then i heard a strange cracking noise everytime the work light was flashing, i've had a look in the case for any thing loose and everything looks ok.

Any know what it could be ?

joePC

Its the hard drive, if its the first time you've heard this then I would say, back up your Hdd and wait until if fails.......sounds like a failing Hdd

Thanks joePC

Mutant_Fruit

what kind of "CracK" does it sound like something scraping off something else? Something sharp and metallic maybe? If so, it's probably the harddrive, but also check to make sure nothing is getting caught in a fan.

But it sounds more like the HD than anything else.

Lump

Some times if the computer has been left idle, and you access something the hard drive will have to spin up again, sometimes you might here a crack.

For example some of the MP3's in my playlist are on a networked pc (just a box running 98) and when winamp accesses a mp3 from said drive you can hear it spin up, starting with a clicking sound (just one click)


However if it's clicking constantly..... ack up and wait for it to die.


John

Bu11et_Proof

its not on all the time but just when the work light is flashing which seems to point towards the hard drive. pity i only have it a short time under 3 months, think i'll be looking for some sort of refund on it?

Lump

If it's under warrenty, return it.


john

leeroybrown

That sound is mormaly an indicator of a failing Hard Drive.

backup your data if possible and test the HDD with the manufacturers drive test tool. UltimateBootCD has most of them and also links to the individual tools on the site.

The test tool should be able to verify if theres a problem and may even be able to attempt a hotfix. I've had some success with these tools before.

Giblet

That happened to my HDD, and it eventually just stopped working, but all of a sudden, it started working the next day, that was 7 months ago, not a click since. Sometimes happens with new HDD's because the metal is being stressed.

l3rian

make sure its screwed in tightly, and is not too hot, then defrag the disk

Mutant_Fruit

Amazingly enough, there is no point in defraggin harddrives anymore. There is less than a 2% gain in performance in a freshly defragged harddrive, as compared to a harddrive that has never been defragged.

My source for this was the PCLive magazine. I think it was last month's issue, but could have been 2 months ago.

Anyway, take everything off that drive that is valuable, and then install SiGuardian. Let that monitor your drive until it has a prognosis, and let me know what it is.