Hard Disk Noise = intermittent shrill

[jldodge]

After reading a number of posts on this site, I believe I am fast approaching a hard disk problem. Lately, I have been hearing a shrill sound coming out of my computer. The sound lasts about 2-3 seconds and then stops. I hear it maybe once a week. It sounds like the platters are "rubbing" ever so slightly. Because of the fans and other noise, I cannot determine which drive is the problem. I'm not sure what to do ...

I have not noticed any performance problems on the computer to date, except, I seem to have a few more hangups on programs and have to reboot more often than before. I am in the process of backing up my system "just in case". Is it possible that the drive is going bad and it's just a matter of time?

I have 4 drives in the computer and would like to determine which one is going bad. How do I do that??? I have IBM, Western Digital and Seagate drives.

Finally, should I switch out the drive now or wait??

Thanks in advance for any and all help .....

 

[jldodge]

Would really like some help here .... My guess is that the drive will crap out on me when I least expect it and will likely lose some data (which could probably be recreated with a little sweat). I cannot afford to back up every day so would like to have some thoughts on how to ID the "defective" drive so that I can go ahead and replace now.

Thanks in advance for any/all help ...:disgust:

 

[Paulson]

Run drive fitness test on the IBM drive, run Datalifeguard diagnostics on the western digital, and run whatever error diagnosing software that comes with the segates on the 2 of them..

that's the only way to really be sure.

oh yeah, also btw, backup as much as you can...