[orrer]

I have a weird problem concerning one of my hard drives, I'm not sure which one exactly - probably the primary hard drive. Sometimes, when I work on my PC, I hear that short startup "buzz" that is usually heard every time you turn on the computer. As if the hard drive quickly "restarted" itself; the LED also flashes. But nothing is disrupted, no errors, the computer continues to work normally. The buzz is not always heard, but mostly when I'm searching for files, scanning for viruses, sometimes even when I'm turning off the PC... Does anyone know the cause of this problem?

[Elvandil]

Run chkdsk to make sure that there are no file system errors. Seeking in vain can make drives produce some strange noises. You might try chkdsk /r to actually test the disk's surface to make sure that you have no bad clusters.

In any case, make sure that everything is backed up. Files not backed up (including the operating system) are files that you don't want to keep. Hard drives can die at any time.

If you want to test the driver further:

Free Hard Drive Testing Applications:
Ariolic Disk Scanner (Checks disk for read errors)
Manufacturer's Tests
Victoria for DOS
Victoria for Windows (Both versions of Victoria are among the best and most thorough tests available.)
HD Tune
CheckDisk 1.03 (Marks bad sectors as unusable.)
HDAT2 (Diagnostics and bad sector recovery)
MHDD Low-level Diagnostics
Bootable Hitachi Drive Fitness Test Floppy or CD Image (works on most drives)

Hard Drive Manufacturers' Diagnostic Utilities Links:
TachTech
BleepingComputer