Hard Drive Makes a Clicking Sound
"My hard drive is making a clicking sound. It started recently and seems to be getting more frequent. Sometimes I hear a repeated click-whir sound and then the computer locks up. Does this mean my hard drive is going bad?"
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Hard Drive Failure?
Generally a clicking sound 
coming from your hard drive is a Bad Omen. It could be a harbinger of horrific hardware happenings, so my immediate advice is "BACKUP YOUR HARD DRIVE!" as soon as possible. If the drive fails, you're out of luck. In fact, even if you don't suspect a problem with your hard drive, it's wise to make regular backups so you can survive a hard drive failure with only minimal inconvenience. See my article Backing Up Your Files to learn about backup strategies, hardware and software.
Scan Your Drive
On Windows XP, you can check your hard drive for errors by running the CHKDSK utility. Restart your computer and hold down the Ctrl key while it's booting up. When you see the option to start your system in Safe Mode, select it and continue. Click the Start button, then click Run, then type CHKDSK C: /F /R then press Enter. The /R option tells CHKDSK to scan for bad disk sectors, and the /F option means to fix any errors found. (On a Windows 98 system, use the SCANDISK command instead of CHKDSK.)
If CHKDSK offers to "convert lost chains to files", recover lost data, or fix something else, you should accept. (If CHKDSK tries to sell you a cheap Rolex, politely decline the offer.) After CHKDSK finishes, restart your computer normally and see if the dreaded click of doom returns. If so, the drive is most likely damaged, and should be replaced as soon as possible. If you decide to purchase a new computer, see Copying Old Hard Drive to New PC for help with transferring your files.
Are You On The Level?
But before you trash your troublesome drive, you should try one more thing... Some hard drives are very sensitive to non-level surfaces, and will not function properly if they're sitting on a slant. Shut down your computer, make sure your system unit is on a flat surface (use a level to make sure), and then restart. I was all set to give up on an older computer that was doing the click/whir routine, but I noticed it wasn't sitting on a level surface. As soon as I fixed that, the problem was gone!
That clicking sound MAY signal impending hard drive failure, but keep in mind you don't always get such a warning. So play it safe... back up your files on a regular basis.
Need more inspiration to back up your hard drive? Listen to music based on the sounds of hard drive failure!
Fiddling While Your Hard Drive Crashes will haunt your dreams until your data is safe.
Posted by Bob Rankin on February 18, 2006 06:00 PM
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Most recent comments on "Hard Drive Makes a Clicking Sound"
(See all 42 comments for this article.)|
Posted by:
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although most clicking noises result in harddrive failure, having worked in the IT (computer) field for 12 years, i have found two hard drives where clicking was fine..... I consider most harddrive failure noises to be a "clunk" and not a click... however the two that worked........ were more of a click than a clunk..... I suggest backing up any unusual behavior...... the first ran for 6 months before i replaced it out of fear.... the second ran for 1 month before being replaced out of fear... (1 was work related, the other personal)....... Keep in mind these were different sounding than the usual "click of death"....... if you dont know the sound.... assume the worst.... backup ASAP |
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Posted by:
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I would also like to point at that someone commented on clicking being caused by a full drive.... this is purely coincidental..... clicking is a failure no matter how it sounds..... It might last 2 minutes... it might last 2 years.... but it is abnormal use either way |
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Thanks for the writeup. Your sound in the first line doesn't work... While googling about my drive I came across this page with all kinds of sounds: http://datacent.com/hard_drive_sounds.php |
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Posted by:
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Thanks my HD was clicking in the new housing , so i thought it was going out.I turned it on its side and now everything is ok . No more clicking sound ,thanks |
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Posted by:
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Thanks for your sound advice. I got out the level and checked. My computer was not even close to level. After adjustment to level, it works perfectly with no clacking noise. |
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Posted by:
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Bob, Ihave a question for you. I bought a computer for my shop from a local pawn shop, with windows XP PRO,when it came time for windows updates, I said yes, then I got the notice i might be a victum of counterfeiting software. they sucked up a lot of the files and every time I lookup any thing with the word microsoft,remove xp, ect, it sucks it up, locks it up. Can i just clean it blank and start fresh, buy new hard drive, or what? Help. Alan EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, you should reformat and install a licensed, legal copy of XP. Start here: http://askbobrankin.com/reformat_hard_drive_under_xp.html |
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Posted by:
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Try defragmenting the Drive, it solved my problem. |
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chkdsk c: /R implies /F |
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i would like to make a comment from my own experiences, sometimes some ppl may think they have the click of doom, if your hard drive is not detecting at all you may also want to have a look at your power supply yes your powersupply it could be a sign of bad capacitors thought youd like to know |
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Posted by:
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My computer since the first time I got it made 'clicking' sounds but they rather sound like bouncey clicks or something is scraping it. It doesn't only do it on start up but everytime a program loads. For me this is normal and this computer has ran for like 5 years+ . |
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