RavenPerch
New Member
I know hard disks make noises as my Barracuda 360gb, 3.5inch one is doing, what specifically makes the grinding noise and the clicks?...and can it be reduced?
Hard Drive monsters??
- Thread starter RavenPerch
- Start date
If mine makes any noise new I RMA them. As far as making noise it can be the Actuator arm/heads smacking the platters or the arm bearings, the motor or the motor bearings.
Last edited:
gamerman4
Active Member
If it is humming, it is normal, there is a spinning disk inside of it making the noise.
If it is "grinding", this usually happens to most drives when reading a lot of data, some are more quiet than others. If the grinding is really loud, there may be a problem.
If it is clicking that is almost always bad. Clicking indicates a problem with the internal moving components.
Vibrations are the cause of most of the noise a normal healthy HDD makes. Many people install HDDs with rubber grommets on the screws to absorb vibration. The grommets limit metal-on-metal contect so the vibration don't escalate. The noise often isn't specifically the hard drive but the vibration it makes causes your case to vibrate and make noise. This depends on the design of your case though. My current case has the hard drive bay screwed both on the inside of the case, as well as a couple screws through the bottom of the case, the bottom screws assure that the HDD vibrations are directed into the bottom of the case and to the ground rather than all around the case. If your bay is just "hanging" there inside the case then vibrations become a problem because the vibrations have to travel and if they have to go all around your case before being absorbed, it gets noisy.
If it is "grinding", this usually happens to most drives when reading a lot of data, some are more quiet than others. If the grinding is really loud, there may be a problem.
If it is clicking that is almost always bad. Clicking indicates a problem with the internal moving components.
Vibrations are the cause of most of the noise a normal healthy HDD makes. Many people install HDDs with rubber grommets on the screws to absorb vibration. The grommets limit metal-on-metal contect so the vibration don't escalate. The noise often isn't specifically the hard drive but the vibration it makes causes your case to vibrate and make noise. This depends on the design of your case though. My current case has the hard drive bay screwed both on the inside of the case, as well as a couple screws through the bottom of the case, the bottom screws assure that the HDD vibrations are directed into the bottom of the case and to the ground rather than all around the case. If your bay is just "hanging" there inside the case then vibrations become a problem because the vibrations have to travel and if they have to go all around your case before being absorbed, it gets noisy.
The_Other_One
VIP Member
I had some problems with my last Seagate (bought around 2006) Right out of the box, it made "odd" noises. Ended up going with a WD and it's been humming along just fine. Oh, and speaking with a computer shop owner (essentially begging for a job) we got into hard drives. He said they used to use Seagates because of the 5 year warranty and such. However, their quality has gone downhill recently, and they even dropped to 3 and 1 year warranties on some drives!
As for your drive, I'd confirm you have SMART enabled in your BIOS, if supported. You may also wish to look for Seagate's hard drive diagnostic software (usually a downloadable ISO). This won't guarantee you will find errors, even if the drive's acting up, but if it happens to find anything, you could take action if it's still under warranty or simply backing up your info (which probably wouldn't be a bad idea regardless...)
As for your drive, I'd confirm you have SMART enabled in your BIOS, if supported. You may also wish to look for Seagate's hard drive diagnostic software (usually a downloadable ISO). This won't guarantee you will find errors, even if the drive's acting up, but if it happens to find anything, you could take action if it's still under warranty or simply backing up your info (which probably wouldn't be a bad idea regardless...)
Twist86
Active Member
I had the same issue with my .10 320GB Seagate drives....I honestly think its a issue with the motor on the 2 platters if you have my model of drive.
I was thinking of partitioning 70GB and leaving it blank and see if I am correct...waiting on my replacement .12 500GB drive however first (tomorrow night!)
Mind you my drive passes all seagate tests but massive delays and horrible sounds when booting up Vista.
I was thinking of partitioning 70GB and leaving it blank and see if I am correct...waiting on my replacement .12 500GB drive however first (tomorrow night!)
Mind you my drive passes all seagate tests but massive delays and horrible sounds when booting up Vista.