HD whirring sound on boot ?

W

Wallace

the hard drive makes a whirring sound on boot; have to power up/down many times
before the whirring stops and os and programs load
started maybe 3 months ago, at that time just one or two power ups to load sw, thought
it was the way I was shutting down, not letting Win close fully before power off, but this
last week it's been multi power up/downs before the whirring stops

Seagate tech says it could be the power supply or the drive, software tests pass but I
won't test the power supply till the weekend - switch hd power points
Seagate Barracuda 7200 160GB out of warranty, 4 years old

anyone experienced this problem ? solution ?
 
why wait for a disaster? solution? buy new HD. they cost close to nothing or better yet-SSD . most of retail packages comes with detailed manual of how to make the transfer from old HD to new one. it's really simple.
but-i agree with tech guy-it could be some fan. any fan.
 
Whatever you do DO NOT USE chkdsk or anything similar or a disk defrag!
If there is a bad block or other data abnormality, moving and or "fixing" data blocks combined with a hardware failure can turn the drive into a brick, literally.

Get a new drive. And get an external USB enclosure too, about $25. That way while your old drive still spins (and is readable) you can copy what you need without having to boot from it. One of many uses of an external USB enclosure.

Good luck
 
Quote from tiddlywinks:

Whatever you do DO NOT USE chkdsk or anything similar or a disk defrag!
If there is a bad block or other data abnormality, moving and or "fixing" data blocks combined with a hardware failure can turn the drive into a brick, literally.

Get a new drive. And get an external USB enclosure too, about $25. That way while your old drive still spins (and is readable) you can copy what you need without having to boot from it. One of many uses of an external USB enclosure.

Good luck
More...

Don't need an USB enclosure.

He could just as well install the new drive and connect the old drive to the machine to copy files and keep it there for temporary data until it fails. USB enclosures are for people who need to regularly move the drive from one location to another.
 
Unusual sound from hard drives are almost always mechanical. Vibration of some sort. Electronic parts either work or fail with a spark (typically capacitor or resistor).

If you value your data and possible prevention from future headache of dealing with a down system, prepare for the possibility this is a mechancal problem brewing and look for suitable replacement.
 
after installing then uninstalling a program and re-booting, chkdsk started to run;
did a lot of file work during and after 3, no idea what and there is no log
don't know if this has made any difference to eliminating the whirring and power ups
will find out when I do some more power ups

not 100% committed to buying a new computer - tight fisted, but if the hd and power
supply both need replacing it's almost half the cost of a new computer from a local
builder I've bought from before

don't need more power than I'm already using, but if new, I'd go with an ssd - there's
a new one from Samsung '840 EVO SSD 120' US$109.99 , plus whatever hd is also
included in the package, plus Win 7 and possibly an led monitor

how much ram ?
 
man...i'm cheap,but you ar sounds like a super jew..
just add another couple hundreds and build damn thing from scratch.
you are heading into more trouble than you can't even imagine,by trying to add ram or even worse-new OS into to 'premanufactured\build in PC)
it's a worst possible idea to update\upgrade big company build PC(such as dell,compaq or hp)

swapping Hd to SSD is fine. adding another HD -might be problematic(open the case, and see-where you can connect it(i mean power AND data cables). you might be short one or on both.
same for ram.
 
thanks Bob, Scot actually, Really tight fisted

following is the local builder I've bought from before and haven't had a problem with
the computer, or phone assistance. they could build entirely to my specs but ultra
components are not that important to me
the 'Intel i3-3225 Ivy Bridge Dual Core' - 2nd listed seems ok to me, plus the ssd
http://genericcomputer.com/c-54-System_Package.html

would 4GB of ram be sufficient, or is more required ? additional 8GB $75

only 64 bit program would be NinjaTrader
W 7 on the ssd plus NT and 2 or 3 MT4s, firewall
the regular hd would be used for internet and all other stuff, firewall, anti virus
 
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