Identifying and troubleshooting Western Digital hard drive noise issues
There can be several reasons why a WD drive may be making a clicking noise:
- The drive is not getting enough power to fully spin up;
- The drive has failed;
- Occasional clicks during data access;
- Hard clicks during a head park operation (shutdown or sleep mode);
- The data cable is faulty, or incompatible;
WD internal drives
Please follow the instructions below to check a WD drive for damage:
- Turn off your computer system;
- Disconnect the data cable from the drive making noise (Do NOT remove the power cable);
- Turn the computer back on;
- If the clicking noise persists, your drive maybe defective and needs to be replaced. Otherwise, continue to step 5;
- Replace your data cable. If the problem returns, this could be a system hardware related issue. Please contact Seagate System or Motherboard manufacture;
WD My Book external drives
Note: The My Book unit will not power up until both power, and data cables are connected to power source and powered on computer.
Please follow the troubleshooting steps below:
- To test if the drive is getting enough power, plug the power adapter directly into a wall outlet;
- Use the original USB cable to directly connect the drive to a USB port on the computer, ideally to a USB port on the back;
- Use the original USB cable to directly connect the drive to another USB port on the computer;
- Use the original USB cable to directly connect the drive to a USB port on another computer;
- Try another USB cable;
- If the clicking noise persists, your drive may be defective and need to be replaced;
WD My Passport external drives
Note: The USB cable is used for both data and power, it is possible that a faulty or incompartible cable can cause the drive to click.
Please follow the troubleshooting steps below:
- Use the original USB cable to directly connect the drive to a USB port on the computer, ideally to a USB port on the back;
- Use the original USB cable to directly connect the drive to another USB port on the computer;
- Use the original USB cable to directly connect the drive to a USB port on another computer;
- Try another USB cable (18 inches or less);
- The computer may not be supplying enough power through the USB port. The purchase of a supplemental Power Booster Cable from the WD Online Store may resolve the issue;
- If the clicking noise persists, your drive may be defective and need to be replaced.
WD My Cloud drives
To test the internal hard disk drive(s) in a My Cloud device:
- Launch the Dashboard;
- Navigate to Settings > Utilities > Disk Test, and perform a Quick Test, and Full Test;
- To test if the drive is getting enough power, plug the power adapter directly into a wall outlet;
- If either disk test fails, or if the clicking noise persists, the My Cloud device or the internal drive may be defective and need to be replaced;
Note:
My Cloud devices with multiple internal hard disk drives, can have their hard disk drives removed and tested as internal drives by following the steps under WD internal drives.
A WD drive can also be tested by WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostics.