Question My hard drive makes mechanical noises at startup?????????

[Fadsy]

Hi,

I have built a new gaming pc a few months now, I noticed that my hard drive makes noises when I boot the system for a few seconds then it stops. I have games and personal data saved on my WD 1 TB PC Hard Drive - Blue and windows 10 is running from my Kington ssd drive. Is this a sign of a dying hard drive because hard drives shouldn't make that noise. I have ran disk check and found no errors on the drive, the drive is working fine. Should I get a replacement coz its still under warranty??????????

 

[mikeymikec]

If it's making a noise that it didn't used to make, I'd refer the problem to the manufacturer and see what they say.

 

[jackofalltrades]

Noise is bad always. They are not suppose to make any kind of noise unless it is vibrating in the case on spin up. you can check that by putting your hand on it on start up and see if it still does it. if it doesn't make noise when your hand is on it you may need to isolate it some how.

 

[C1]

You dont state the specific model of the drive as the wd blue comes in two rpm versions (WD10EZEX/WD10EALX - 7200; WD10EZRZ - 5400).

Sometimes people get used to 5400RPM drives and are surprised by how much more noise comes from 7200RPM or higher.

Many drives support "acoustic" mode which can be adjusted by hdparm.

Issuing this command: sudo hdparm -M /dev/sdX should result in this: acoustic = 254 (128=quiet ... 254=fast)

Then by doing this: sudo hdparm -M 128 /dev/sdX you should now have a slightly quieter drive albeit slower also.

I can't say with any confidence that this will reduce vibration. Too many possible causes and contributing factors.

Good luck

 

[sonitt]

Make sure you backup your data just in case. Nothing worst than losing irreplaceable data.

 

[ElFenix]

drives spin up. that makes noise. so the question is if it's a new noise or not? have you recently changed anything that might make the noise more apparent, like changing the position of the computer relative to your ear, or running with a side panel off?

 

[Fadsy]

no it always made that noise only at start up for a few seconds

 

[VirtualLarry]

no it always made that noise only at start up for a few seconds

Then disable SuperFetch. Note that while the HDD will be quieter during startup, starting your programs from the HDD may take longer.

 

[Fadsy]

I ran crystaldiskinfo heres the results

 

[Fadsy]

I think am going to get a replacement I have had many computers before never suffered from this issue, although the drive is healthy now it could go wrong in time to come, sound like a mechanical issue that could develop further.

 

[rchunter]

I think am going to get a replacement I have had many computers before never suffered from this issue, although the drive is healthy now it could go wrong in time to come, sound like a mechanical issue that could develop further.

That smart reading looks perfect. I don't think they will replace it. You can always try though.

 

[VirtualLarry]

OP, are you sure that this is a "bad" sound? Some drives, especially 7200RPM and especially if their APM settings haven't been adjusted for "Quiet Mode", and even more especially Hitachi 7200RPM drives (although that doesn't apply here, I mention it for the sake of completeness), are just plain "a bit noisy".

Combine with Windows 10 hitting drives hard (it was really designed for SSDs), then that may be all that you are seeing.

If it doesn't sound like "grinding", or a "chirp-clack" (reset), then ... it could be just fine. Your SMART stats look fine too.

Tell me this, is this your first modern 7200RPM HDD? Or have you always had 7200RPM HDDs before? If this is your first 7200RPM HDD, unless you are getting "weird" noises, like "grinding", or VERY LOUD noises, or "chirp-clack" (and can hear the heads resetting), or getting "pausing" opening up apps (for a second or two, nothing happens, then noises, then eventually the application responds), then you're probably... OK?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Note also, OP, that if you request a replacement, and it is granted, and then send you another drive, then they will (most likely) send you a REFURB, and NOT a "new" drive. Do you really want to take that chance? I mean, if your drive was somehow obviously failing, then sure, RMA it, but at this point, it seems mostly guesswork on your part that based on more noise, that it might fail? Sure, don't store anything important on it. (Use it for Steam game library, and downloads, stuff that can easily be replaced.)

 

[Fadsy]

False alarm,
It turned out to be my cheap dvd drive which is making the noise and not my hard drive. After carrying out an investigation I found out that the problem is with the dvd drive my hdd drives are perfect and not making any kind of noise as they should be.
Note:
If you your hard drive is making any kind of noise at startup or even during read/write operation most likely it has a problem and you should back up your data and replace even if its working fine and even if the any testing software indicates that its fine. All new hdd are silent and should not make any noises no matter what speeds they run at.

 

[VirtualLarry]

All new hdd are silent and should not make any noises no matter what speeds they run at.

Unfortunately, that's categorically NOT TRUE. Most recent HDDs, are relatively silent, but the faster they are, the higher RPMs, and the lower seek times/latency, the more noise they make. It's just physics.

Sure, some Seagate 5200RPM drives may be silent, but try using a WD Black. In comparison, it's relatively noisy. Even when nothing's wrong with it.

Some of us old-school performance freaks, remember SCSI setups. Those HDDs sure made a LOT of noise, back in the day. Then again, they were mostly server-oriented HDDs.

 

[Wendigo]

Mechanical drives make noise "moving parts" ,all of them do , but some are louder than others. If you want no noise go FULL SSD setup.