Help: Continous Disk Drive Hum

DaveH

DaveH

Joined
Dec 2, 1999
Messages
12,249
It's taken about a year, but my PC now has a continous or near continuous disk drive hum. (I think it's the DD might be the power supply/fan how do I tell? Sounds like a VCR tape rewinding).

Here's what I've checked:

- Diagnostics of drive - OK
- Checked for corruption on drives - OK
- Defragged Drives - OK
- Ran adware other them some cookies - OK
- AVG anti SPyware - OK
- Etrust firewall & virus - OK
- 1% CPU busy - 99% idle
- A pile of windows services running, but nothing consuming CPU
- PC log indicates occasional time acquisition errors, occasional wireless blips, no smoking gun as far as I can tell.

What should be my next steps?

Thanks
 
The first thing I would do is back up any essential data. If it is the hard drive chances are it could go anytime without warning. The noise you describe does sound like something with a bearing about to go. Do you have another hard drive you could swap in? If so, that would pinpoint whether it was a fan or the hdd. For that matter, you could try just unplugging the drive and booting up the machine. Obviously it will not boot into your OS like this but it would also help you pinpoint the problem.

If it is the hdd I will assume that it is either dying or you have some kind of malicious software that is constantly writing and/or seeking to the drive. I think the last is unlikely in your case though.
 
I would agree with backing up all essential data ASAP, assuming you haven't already. And I also agree with isolating the cause: specifically, using a different HDD, using a different power supply, or anything you can do to establish it is one over the other. I have had situations where I thought a HDD was dieing and it turned out to be a fan dieing instead.

Also, look into replacing the drive. It should still be under warranty (try going straight to the HDD manufacturer rather than the PC company, assuming you bought the tower as a complete unit). 3 years is the industry standard warranty for HDD's with some being 5 years. Many companies will send you a new drive and give you 30 days to send back the defective one. This allows you the chance to transfer everything over. As long as you send them the old drive back, you don't pay anything (but I believe you give a credit card when you first order the replacement so they can charge you if you keep it longer than 30 days).

I went through a drive replacement with Western Digital last year. It was really painless: they sent the new one, I transferred everything over, wiped the old drive, and sent it back. No muss, no fuss!

If you are going to send in the drive, give it a good wipe first to protect your privacy. There are retail products like Cyberscrub Privacy Suite, or Acronis Privacy Expert, and then there are free options like Darik's Boot and Nuke.
 
It's telling (warning) you that something is seriously wrong. Back up your important stuff now. Do some double checking on the spyware stuff. I found my machine full of unwanted crap even though my spy ware said it was okay. Could be the bearings for the fan or drive. After doing a back-up open up your PC. Dust builds up in there, check things out.
 
It's most probably one of the fans (CPU, power supply etc ...)
Open the powered down PC and unplug the HDD power connector. Power it up. It won't find tha HDD but that's OK. Listen to the noise. If it's still there, it's one of the fans. DO NOT disconnect the fans to check for noise, unless they are box fans. If you run the CPU without it's fan it will burn out very fast.
 
Update: I jammed a piece of plastic in the CPU fan, fan jammed, noise stopped. I released the fan at that point.
 
that's easy to fix
just disconnect the fan (i used some tape to identify the connector where it normally plugs in) and buy a new one
if you're a screwup like me, bring the fan to the computer store to get an exact size
i bought the wrong size fans and had to go back a 2nd time
 
DaveH said:
Update: I jammed a piece of plastic in the CPU fan, fan jammed, noise stopped. I released the fan at that point.
Click to expand...

if it is an OEM heatsink/fan combo there is a very good chance that you won't be able to buy one without the other. Many of the hsf's that manufacturers like Dell, compaq, etc. use are ridiculous contraptions and don't just bolt onto the heatsink itself. If you have a service contract I believe that this will be a part covered under it.

If you are comfortable doing so, my personal preference is to replace the whole OEM hsf assembly with an aftermarket combination. It'll cost about the same as buying a new OEM one (unless you go to ebay), will cool more efficiently and likely run more quietly.

Whatever you do, don't run the machine without the heat sink and fan working. There is no quicker way to fry a cpu.
 
Don't worry the fan is still running, though the guy got a kick out of me diagnosing it by jamming the fan with a piece of plastic. It's still under warranty, dell is sending me a new fan.

The fan is on the back, but has a plastic chamber on the inside that directs the air against a surprisingly large finned copper tube affair. The power supply has it's own fans which seems OK.
 
I built my computer in '99,
it makes so many different noises,
when I hear a new one, or it starts rattling too loud, I just reach of over with my foot and tap it till it stops.

Couple years ago, I give it some more RAM,
a second hard drive,
and a 64MB video card.
One of the cpu fans was wobbling a little too much, got kinda loud, so I got a similar size fan,
and bolted it on with bigger screws.

700 megahertz AMD Athlon Pluto Slot A
Soyo K7VIA mobo
512MB of PC100 SDRAM

Been meaning to build a new system, just have not got around to it yet :D
 
eh, just wondering, when you say CPU fan, it's one of the 3 either on the rear, top or bottom, right?
 
eh, just wondering, when you say CPU fan, it's one of the 3 either on the rear, top or bottom, right?
Click to expand...
The CPU fan is on the motherboard, on top of the processor (CPU).

-Bob
 
from the way Dave described his setup, "The fan is on the back, but has a plastic chamber on the inside.....", it sounds like he has a mac or a pc setup on the btx formfactor.
 
It's a regular case fan, but the output side has a plenum, ductwork, whatever, that blows the air directly on top of a finned, copper tube affair which sits on top of the motherboard. I'm assuming that makes it the CPU fan.

The onlly other fan is in the power suppy itself.
 
DEA said:
that's easy to fix
just disconnect the fan (i used some tape to identify the connector where it normally plugs in) and buy a new one
if you're a screwup like me, bring the fan to the computer store to get an exact size
i bought the wrong size fans and had to go back a 2nd time
Click to expand...

You've only done that with fans? ;) I've bought the wrong size part on just about everything I've ever fixed. Nowadays, if it's easily transportable, I always bring the part with me when buying a replacement - whether it's computer parts, auto parts, home repair parts...
 
Fans on PCs run (or not) depending on internal temperatures. If the heatsinks aren't working getting the heat out of the parts and into the air, then the fans will have to run faster and constantly (which makes the fans wear out faster) to move more air through the enclosure. What would keep heatsinks from working? Answer: dirt. Dirt builds up on the heatsinks.

So, as long as you have the unit open, clean the heatsinks.
 
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