2024-11-03

noisy hard drive

What should I do for a noisy hard disc drive?

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM02 mins

noisy hard disc drive All of our new Parallel ATA (PATA) hard drives and new Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives are optimized for performance, we do not have a utility that can quiet them down.

While modern drives are extremely quiet, every disc drive makes a certain amount of noise while running. Normally, the faster the drive motor spins, the higher pitched the resulting sound will be.

It is also normal for the drive to make sort of a “chattering” or “clicking” sound while it is reading and writing data.

However, if the sound coming from the area around your drive has recently changed or is an excessive grinding or clanking noise, this may indicate a physical problem with the drive.

Noise from the cooling fans in the power supply are often mistaken as hard drive noise.  To isolate whether the noise is coming from the drive or one of the fans, you can issue a “spin down” command through software.  The Seagate SeaTools for DOS diagnostic has an acoustical spin down test.

If the sound goes away, then the sound was produced by the drive.  If the sound remains, then the drive is not the cause of the sound.

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How To Tell If The Noisy Hard Drive Is Normal?

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM13 mins

Noisy Hard Drive Current hard drive technology dictates that some noise will occur during drive operation. The type of noise and the volume of the noise can change depending on the current function that the drive is involved in. It is important to recognize which noises indicate trouble and which are simply normal drive sounds.

Normal drive sounds include:

  • Whining noise during drive spin-up
  • Occasional clicks during data access
  • Hard clicks during a head park operation (shutdown or sleep mode)

Abnormal drive sounds include:

  • High-pitched whining sound
  • Vibration sounds due to either vibration in the mounting hardware or in rare cases, a drive failure
  • Clicking or clunking sounds that occur repeatedly
  • Grinding sounds

Solutions:

Step1: Make sure it is not a case fan or another device
Turn off the system. Remove both the power and data cables from the drive. Turn on the system to see if the noise continues. If the noise is still present, the drive is not the cause. Search for another device such as a case fan, which is causing the noise. If the noise is no longer present, continue with Step 2.

Step 2: Determine if the problem is the hard drive or its data cable
Turn off the system. Connect only the power cable to the drive, and turn on the system. If the noise occurs, the problem is with the drive. At this point, continue with Step 3. If the there is no noise, the drive is not at fault. Turn off the system and connect your data cable. Turn on the system. If the noise occurs now, your data cable is faulty and should be replaced.

Step 3: Try the hard drive in a new location
Turn off the system. Install the drive into a different drive bay or place it securely on an anti-static surface if available. Attach only the power cable. Turn on the system. If the noise is still present, the drive has failed and should be replaced.

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What should I do for a noisy seagate hard drive?

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM02 mins

Hard Drive Noise All of seagate new Parallel ATA (PATA) hard drives and new Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives are optimized for performance, they do not have a utility that can quiet them down.

While modern drives are extremely quiet, every hard drive makes a certain amount of noise while running. Normally, the faster the drive motor spins, the higher pitched the resulting sound will be.

It is also normal for the hard drive to make sort of a “chattering” or “clicking” sound while it is reading and writing data.

However, if the sound coming from the area around your hard drive has recently changed or is an excessive grinding or clanking noise, this may indicate a physical problem with the hard drive.

Noise from the cooling fans in the power supply are often mistaken as hard drive noise.  To isolate whether the noise is coming from the drive or one of the fans, you can issue a “spin down” command through software.  The Seagate SeaTools for DOS diagnostic has an acoustical spin down test.

If the sound goes away, then the sound was produced by the hard drive.  If the sound remains, then the drive is not the cause of the sound.

Read More

How To Diagnose a Noisy Hard Drive

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM03 mins

Hard drives are usually nearly silent but some do make a muted clicking sound when they’re being accessed – this is normal. On the other hand, if you start hearing noises only occasionally or noises that you’ve never heard before – like clicking, grinding or squealing – your hard drive may be failing.

The steps below will help you determine what to do next before all of your precious data is gone for good.

  • Run free hard drive diagnostic software, already available on most PCs or available on the Internet. Additionally, more advanced diagnostic software is available for a cost from third party software developers.Note: At best, diagnostic software will only mark the areas of the hard drive that are failing as “bad” and prevent the computer from using them in the future. It will not truly fix a hard drive that is physically failing.
  • If any corrections made by the diagnostics software do not temporarily resolve the hard drive noise, do a complete backup of your system and replace the hard drive immediately.
  • If the diagnostics software helps resolve the clicking, grinding or squealing noises keep in mind that this is only a temporary solution. Chances are, the hard drive will continue to fail until it is completely unusable. The permanent solution is to do a complete backup of your system and replace the hard drive as soon as possible.

Tips:
Since there is no good way to repair a failing hard drive, protecting your data by performing regular backups is essential. With an up-to-date backup, recovering from a hard drive failure is as simple as installing a new drive and restoring your data.

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