Is it a problem with my hard drive?

Question

I recently had a second hard drive installed in my desk top computer. However, after its installation, my computer began making this high-pitched, metallic "ping"ing noise. It isn't anything constant and only lasts a second, but happens sporadically throughout the day. After some googling, I decided to do a disk check on both harddrives, and though a few errors were found and fixed, the noise continues.

What I'm wondering is if my hard drive could have been installed incorrectly or if there is some other issue going on. This noise only started after the installation, and I've had a few problems with the store in the past concerning installation issues (one of them being that the technician forgot to hook up my new power supply to my CDROM drive, forcing me to hook it up myself or pay an additional fee).

I don't want to spend more money by taking it into the store if its an issue I can detect and (hopefully) fix myself. I'd also like to avoid the computer store altogether, since I'm getting the impression that the main technician doesn't know what he's doing.

Answer 1

It could be a characteristic of the new hard drive. When not in use, it may go to a sleep mode in which it is mostly shut down. Nearly all hard drives make some noise when they go into a standby or sleep mode.



In the past, I've had hard drives make some strange noises. One of them is still working flawlessly though it sounds awful when it is shut down.



As far as what the sound might be, it is probably the heads hitting the stop and perhaps bouncing a bit against it. Since there is nothing holding the heads in place except a small voltage, when the power goes down, the heads will automatically return to the home position long before the disc ever spins down. This is when you may get a clunk or ping. Additionally, it wouldn't be unreasonable to have a small brake on the disc motor. Again it might make a clunk or ping.



Only time will tell you if there is really a mechanical defect. You could get another one of the same brand and model and get the same noise.



Without hearing the noise, I can only offer guesses from experience.



Shadow Wolf

Answer 2

I agree with others that it's probably a bad/dieing hard drive. However, each vendor typically makes a set of utilities that you can download for free and it will exhaustively test your disk. Also, you might want to visually inspect the wiring and it's placement to fans ... wires can move into fan blades and make a loud sound (fan on low speed might not cause an issue but when your system gets loaded, the fan speeds up and wires get pulled in). Also, speaking of fans, the noise might be coming from a bad bearing in one of your fans (you've got many in your system) which means a fan dieing.

Answer 3

1. Check whether your harddrives are fixed properly and is screwed up if required.



2. Check the power cable and data cable.



3. If the problem continues replace the hard disk because it may spoil your original hard disk also.

Answer 4

Dear Janet,



This is a common problem, but thoughtful. you may have to get the backup of your hard disk data. because hard disk is about to crash.



i also having the same experience. pretty better to get assistance from a technician, you dont' have to pay extra for the said, if it persists warranty.



For a nice reading you can follow the below link:



http://www.datarecovery.com.sg/data_recovery/hard_disk_symptons_clicking_sound.htm