Strange noises on cold boot

[y0d4]

I posted this in gen hardware, and no reply, hopefully someone knows here.

Lately my pc has been making some strange noise if i start it up after leaving it off for awhile(>6 hours or so). It sounds like a loud vibration, or whirring, like vacuum cleaner almost. I thought it might be a fan, but it seems to be coming from the front of the case, where i have a 2 month old Antec 120mm. I stopped the fan with my finger, and the noise kept going. The only other thing up there is the hard drive, which is a new Western digital 120GB drive. I have a stock AMD fan on my processor and another 120mm Antec at the rear of the case, and the stock cooler on my 9800Pro.

Can hard drives make noises like this? And would they do it only after sitting for over 6 hours? I have tried google, havent seen anything like this, hopefullt the AT pros can shed some light on it.

Thanks for any help

 

[montag451]

Can you disconnect the suspect hdd and see if you still get that sound - or is that your OS drive?

 

[wpshooter]

Yes, disconnect the power and data cable from the hard drive, then boot to a floppy disk or to a bootable CD and see if the sound if still present.

Why don't you download the hard drive diagnostic software from the drive manufacturer and test your drive.

Because it is new does not mean it can not be or go bad !!!

Good luck.

 

[Ordie]

My machine makes a strange noise also on bootup but it is the old CD ROM drive I have. It makes a loud whirring and grinding type noise when the machine is powered up or if I reboot. It is fixed by having a CD (NOT BOOTABLE) in the drive at all times. It seems to be making the noise when the PC POST detects it and powers it up with no CD in it. It might not be your problem but it's an item that might be the culprit.

Ordy

 

[nerdspot]

Mine does make a noise, but they are from the dual fans.