If you have a hard drive making noise, then it could mean that you haven’t bought yourself latest quiet hard drives or probably your hard disk is bound to fail.
The noise could also interrupt your quiet gaming sessions, affecting your overall working experience.
In this guide, we shall be looking at some of the common reasons why your hard drive could be making noise.
Is It Normal To Hear Hard Drive?
A hard drive comes with many moving parts.
When in operation, these parts are bound to move and make some noise.
Just like your car engine, your hard drive can produce noise and still be in top condition. However, some sounds can indicate more severe problems, such as a failing hard drive.
Usually, a hard drive will produce low-pitched whining or whirring noises when booting, storing, or accessing data.
You may also hear a clicking noise when your hard drive is performing these functions.
Normal noises are generally low-pitched, so while you may hear them, they are not disruptive.
A pronounced or aggressive noise often indicates that something is wrong.
It is important to note that it is easy to mistake cooling fan sounds for hard drive noises.
You have to take steps to isolate the noise and be sure that the Noise is coming from the hard drive before taking any corrective measures.
Sounds Made By A Failing Hard Drive
A grinding noise from your hard drive is something you should be worried about.
What follows the grinding noises is severe internal damage that leads to loss of data.
Your hard drive will also start making grinding noises when it is failing.
The grinding indicates that some components inside it have become faulty.
If you have dropped your hard drive in the recent past and hear the grinding noise, you should start shopping for a new piece and finding alternative storage for your data.
Beeping After Powering
If you notice some beeping immediately after powering your machine, the spins and spindle could be faulty.
With faulty spindles, your machine may also fail to recognize the drive.
An external drive may also beep if it isn’t getting enough power.
As they age, some drives require more power to perform basic functions.
Beeping often comes with USB-powered drives.
Since they don’t have their own power adapter, they are more likely to suffer from a low power supply.
Loud Clicking
While some clicking is okay, loud clicking on and on indicates that the head is failing.
The repeated clicking is the drive’s effort to restart after an error.
How Do You Fix A Noisy Hard Drive?
If you notice any unusual sound from the hard drive, the first thing to do is to power down your machine.
Remove data and power cables from the machine and restart it again.
If the sound is gone, then the hard drive is the problem.
However, if the Noise persists after removing data cables from the hard drive, then other parts of your machine could be faulty.
Once you have singled out the hard drive as the problem, there are a few steps you can take. These include:
Back Up All Data
There is no way to save a failing hard drive since the parts are not repairable. (Source)
Your main concern at this point should be to save as much data as possible.
You have to move fast to save all your data immediately after you diagnose the problem. Some of it may already be destroyed, but you will recover a good amount if you act at the first sign of trouble.
If you don’t already do this, start to save your data through an online backup service.
This way, you can always access your data even when your hard drive dies on you.
Run Diagnostic Software
Run any diagnostic software you have installed on your machine.
You can also download one for free and run it.
Close all programs and disconnect all devices from your machine before running the diagnostic software. This step will ensure that you get more accurate data.
You have to remember that diagnostic software will only highlight the parts failing in your hard drive.
The software cannot fix them or prevent the situation from getting worse.
The clinking noises may temporarily disappear after running this software.
This does not mean that your hard drive has improved, as it will continue to fail until it becomes unusable.
If you don’t get positive results with the diagnostic software, the best thing is to replace the hard drive immediately.
In case your drive passes the diagnostic test, check the drive’s firmware update.
However, if the Noise is persistent and you often have to deal with non-detection problems, get a new hard drive.
Recover Your Data
Even if your hard drive is dead, you can still recover your data.
However, you will need to engage a data recovery professional, which will cost you quite an amount.
Recovery of data only makes sense if the data is valuable.
If not, take what you had backed up and remember always to back up your data to avoid similar losses.
Install a Quiet hard drive
Installing an internal hard drive is as easy as mounting it.
All you need for external hard disk drives is a USB cable to connect them to your machine.
Your new hard drive will come with a detailed installation manual that will make your work easy.
If you don’t know how to open your machine, watch some YouTube videos for inspiration take your computer to a repair shop.
Once the hard drive is in the chassis, restart your machine and run BIOS.
Configure your hard drive according to the manufacture’s instructions and check to see if it’s working correctly.
The noise problem should be resolved with a new drive, and you can now enjoy a seamless experience.
Conclusion
These are the main reasons for hard disk making Noise.
Don’t ignore the loud noises from your hard drive, as waiting too long could lead to data loss.
The hard drive isn’t the only part of the computer that could be making Noise.
However, it doesn’t hurt to power down your computer, disconnect the hard drive, or run a diagnostic test to see if it is in good condition.
Even if the noise signifies a hard disk failure, you can still recover your data by backing up whatever is left of it and using a data expert to recover the rest.
Shop for a new hard drive on Amazon and either install it on your own or get a professional to help you.
Meet Mike O’Connor, (a DIY enthusiast), living in Cincinnati, a city ranked as the noisiest in the USA.
As a work from home dad, I have a first hand experience of how noise can truly affect your well being.
Soundproofing isn’t something that should be taken as a hobby, it should be a skill that every homeowner should be equipped with.
Most of the work documented on this blog comes from purely first hand experience, and the products recommended work as indicated.