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HD Noise Question

G

godspeedx

Golden Member
I've had this computer for about 4 or 5 months and in the past couple weeks I've noticed that my hard drive is making a high pitched annoying spinning noise. I don't think it always did this, like I said I just started noticing it.

I have the Western Digital WD800JB (8MB Cache)

Anyone know what the problem could be?


Thanks
 
could be that you put your hd too close to some kind of magnet. it may be a warning that its about crash. Some hds just come bad from the hd and are ticking bombs. I think WD has some kind of policy that they will replace any hd that crashes so you maybe be able to get your money back. just dont lose any data.
 
All right thanks for the help. There aren't any tests or anything that would let me know if it is going bad? And I'll try not to lose any data if it does crash. 😉
 
dunno if this advice is good or not but i had the same noise, and i took the hard drive out, rotated it in a few directions and put the hard drive back in (maybe that dispersed the lubrication portion of drive) but it took the sound away.

Edwin
 
Ok I tried that and it didn't work, thanks anyway though. Anyone else know what could be wrong? O and I do have a 3 year warranty on it, so I'm in good shape if it does crash.
 
Hard drives age and make an annoying high pitched whine as a result. The process is usually so gradual but if you have good ears I guess you could pick it out as it happens.
 
Maybe you could drill a hole in it an squirt in some WD-40 (Western Digital). Just kidding. WD has software that either came with the drive if it was retail or can be downloaded from their site. It has drive copy, tools and diagnostics. R
 
Typical WD NIDEC spindle motors. Some are very noisy, others barely audible. Your data should be fine. RMA it if you wish. Your replacement may or may not be quiet. I've seen hundreds of these drives pass by my hands and about 70% of them make a nice whine at idle. Perhaps WD should pack some cheese in the static bags! 😛 Frankly, it doesn't bother me. You've probably never heard a rack full of 10k drives. LOL At least the whine of 15k drives is above the range of frequencies that make it bothersome. Perhaps to a dog, cat, bat or rat but not the two legged variety of the latter! 😀

Cheers!
 
Yep, very typical. One of my WD, 80GB model 2mb Cache, has been making a slight high pitch noise after I came back from vacation. The PC was powered off for 2 weeks. Stress tests and diagnostics show the drive to be just fine, so I am not warried about it.

I have heard all kinds of suggestions, from pulling the drive out and shaking it 🙂 to rechecking the connections on the IDE cables to replacing the IDE cables...

If you can't stand the noise, RMA it, otherwise ignore it.

 
I had an 80 GB WD 2 MB drive die after about six months. The replacement works fine, but started to whine after a few months. RR
 
Ok, so what I take from most of the suggestions is that my data isn't in much danger, correct? Regarding the 3 year warranty I have: Can I get a replacement with the HD in its current state?

Again thanks for all the replies.
 
godspeedx,

I had repeated issues with the same problem; these are whining WD bearings/motors .... if you'll RMA the drive, your chances to get one which will be even worse are high. I recorded these sounds some time ago, you can check them here to compare with the noise you're complaining about...

My latest three RMA replacements from WD were OK (I called WD tech support and complained about the unacceptable junk they've sent me before) , but I don't think those drives will stay quiet too long neither; I don't use them currently, and they are sitting on my shelf. I switched to Maxtors, which are quiet, since they use the FDB technology....

cheers
dave
 
Great webpage and sounds......I have a Maxtor that sounds like that from 6 feet away!

I'm going to see if I can rma it and try my luck with another one.....

 
Ya cool site, mine sounds like the last couple wav files, except a little cleaner sounding. But yes I also can hear mine like that from downstairs. =) I think I'm gonna tough it out for now. If it gets absolutely too annoying I'll probably go to a different company or something. Any opinoins between Maxtor and Seagate?

Thanks for all the help, much appreciated.
 
Both of my hard drives where whining, so I suspension mounted them (see www.7volts.com or www.silentpcreview.com), using two peices of soft foam. The difference is like night and day.. before, I could barely hear my fans over the hard drives, now, I can't hear the hard drives over the fans.
 
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