Computer, Tech??

Win Heger

Win Heger

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Feb 29, 2000
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Right now my older Dell desktop is just humming away like nothing is wrong. At some point during the day it will start making a "clunking" noise, this can't be good. Should I be looking at a new computer or sending it out to be checked?

Thanks,
Win
 
Backup! Backup! Backup!

No, seriously, stop reading this and backup your data. Go buy an external hard drive if you don't have one. Just do it, ok?

Now that you have all your data backed up, we can address your noises, which could be a failing cooling fan or possibly the hard drive based on your description. Neither are difficult or expensive to replace, and possibly could be done yourself if you have some basic skills and common sense.

Can you give is a better description of the noise and when it happens? How is the computer running when you hear the noise?

Regards,
Dave
 
Great advice, very few moving parts in there and none are good to "clunk"....I would ensure it's not a cd-
rom or floppy drive.
 
OK, I have an external HD that I'm backing up to. Seems to me the sound is coming from the HD, doesn't do it all the time or when I'm doing anything particular. The computer is running fine, even with the noise. I'm not the guy to be poking around inside the case, sounds like it should go to the spa.

I appreciate the quick responses.

Win
 
16VGTIDave said:
Backup! Backup! Backup!

No, seriously, stop reading this and backup your data. Go buy an external hard drive if you don't have one. Just do it, ok?
Click to expand...

Couldnt agree more with this. Fans can make all kinds of odd sounding noises and I have also heard CD/DVD/Floppy drives make weird noises, but hard drives can make noises like that as well if they are going out. If it does happen to be the hard drive and it has made it to the point where it is making clicking/clunking noises then usually its not long before they totally stop working. Generally speaking they arent that expensive to replace, especially if you can do it yourself or know someone who can help you do it.

If its not the hard drive and its a fan, sometimes you can fix them by taking some compressed air and blowing them out. They are also usually really cheap to replacce.
 
Also, you could look up seatools or western digital diagnostics software on the interwebs. It will let you do scans on your drive to test for failure. YMMV but they are pretty accurate.
 
I agree, back up your data.

If it were me, I'd take the side panel off the case for a while and see if I could catch it clunking. You should be able to narrow it down. As others have said, there isn't much in a computer to clunk. In the average system there are fans and drives. You'll generally have a fan on your processor and maybe one for your power supply. If you have a dedicated graphics card, that might have a fan.

If your hard drive is making much more noise other than clicks and whirrs, it might have a problem. Really bad sounds for a hard drive include screeching or squalling (might mean that the head is comng in contact with the platter, AKA "head crash") or a rythmic, predictable clicking. Like five clicks a little less than a second apart, whirrrrrr, repeat. If your drive sounds like a caffinated squirrel on a telegraph key, that's pretty normal. If it sounds like Stephen Hawking trying to blink for help, that could be bad.
 
proud2deviate said:
I agree, back up your data.

If it were me, I'd take the side panel off the case for a while and see if I could catch it clunking. You should be able to narrow it down. As others have said, there isn't much in a computer to clunk. In the average system there are fans and drives. You'll generally have a fan on your processor and maybe one for your power supply. If you have a dedicated graphics card, that might have a fan.

If your hard drive is making much more noise other than clicks and whirrs, it might have a problem. Really bad sounds for a hard drive include screeching or squalling (might mean that the head is comng in contact with the platter, AKA "head crash") or a rythmic, predictable clicking. Like five clicks a little less than a second apart, whirrrrrr, repeat. If your drive sounds like a caffinated squirrel on a telegraph key, that's pretty normal. If it sounds like Stephen Hawking trying to blink for help, that could be bad.
Click to expand...

Great idea about taking the cover off and seeing if I can narrow it down. That will give me a chance to blow out any dust, too. I'll also run the suggested diagnostic program.

Win
 
Clean out the inside for sure... Build up of dust causes a lot of problems.. Hard drives will usually click not clunk... Check your heatsink closely as well for build up... A lot of the time it is a fan that makes weird noises. They can be replaced or cleaned and lubed and work great again... YOU NEED GOOD AIRFLOW all the time for sure to keep that HDD working properly.
 
I'm going to clean it out over the weekend. In the meantime it's barely done the "noise" again. I went ahead and ordered a new computer and I'll move this one to secondary duty. I work from home and am on the computer all day, I also do a lot of photography and really needed a more powerful machine.

I appreciate all your advise.

Win
 
My dad once had a noise too in his desk top and we found that it was an internal board that wasn't fixed well, so it started vibrating every now and then. Maybe you could look at such an issue too.
 
Amazing how this is escalating! On Saturday I took it out and blew out the dust, no problem. Put it back in and started it up, same noise, sure seems like the HD. Today it is whisper quiet.

Figured I might as well do the other desktop. Blew it out, booted it up and it took forever to come up. I did everything I knew to do and finally just left it on with nothing working. All of a sudden it came up but the keyboard was not working. It was a really old one that wasn't powered via USB. I switched with my USB one everything seems fine.

I'm going to leave them both running until the new one arrives, maybe two weeks.

Win
 
i had a hd that made a clunking noise and it finally went bad. do you have the backup disks that came with your pc for your operating system? you'll need it if the hd pukes so you can restore the os.
 
Rattling or clicking can be a hard drive, which means it will fail relatively soon. Sometimes the fan will make a clanking noise. Fans are relatively easy to replace yourself. The hard drive isn't bad either, it you make good backups. I've replaced both to them over the years, but moved to Mac a few years ago and mostly they just run, although I have replaced a Mac hard drive and a battery.
 
Wait till it's making the noise. Then stop the fan for a second by sticking a pencil or something in it. If the noise stops then you know it's the fan. Don't stop it for more than a few seconds; you don't want to cook your computer. If it's the fan that's cheap and easy to replace. If it's the hard drive that costs more and you'll have to reinstall your operating system and all your software, but it's still worth fixing unless it's a very old obsolete computer. Even then it's probably worth fixing for somebody; you can donate it to some worthy organization.
 
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