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Solved: HD making random clicking noises

1K views 14 replies 6 participants last post by  Rich-M 
#1 ·
Hello all,

My HD just recently started making these clicking noises like the HD's use to back in the day. When they were loading something up you knew that the HD was still working because it was making noises. Mine just started doing this after I vacuumed out the computer. The day after I vacuumed out the computer.

The weird thing to me is that the HD is not making these noises when it is loading something. It is just doing it random. I don't even have to be doing anything on the computer and it is making these noises.

I just built the computer in October and the only thing I did not replace was the HD. I bought the HD in 2006 so it isn't all that old. I also forgot to mention the HD is a Maxtor.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
#5 ·
And don't use a vacuum cleaner on a pc - they are very good at generating static electricity.
What would be your suggestion to get all the dust out next time? I used a shop vac to get all the dust out.

When I get home from work I will backup everything. It was doing it this morning before I left for work. I usually leave the computer running all day, but I turned it off this morning. I did run CHKDSK before I left for work and it found 0 bad sectors and nothing wrong with it. I will run one of the Maxtor utilities once I back it all up though and see if that tells me anything.

Thanks all!
 
#6 ·
What would be your suggestion to get all the dust out next time? I used a shop vac to get all the dust out.

When I get home from work I will backup everything. It was doing it this morning before I left for work. I usually leave the computer running all day, but I turned it off this morning. I did run CHKDSK before I left for work and it found 0 bad sectors and nothing wrong with it. I will run one of the Maxtor utilities once I back it all up though and see if that tells me anything.

Thanks all!
I use a soft paint brush to loosen the dust with side covers off, and take the box outside and manually blow the dust out. I don't let it get too bad though, and when I'm working on pc's for others this method can be "difficult" when a lot of dust has built up. (in those cases I generally start stripping bits out of the case and blow the case out (empty of course) with a yard blower - with an empty case the vacuum would be ok too).
 
#7 ·
You can purchase a can of compressed air that is designed for blowing the dust out of your computer case. Youcan keep your Shop Vac hose positioned outside the computer case so that it will capture a lot of the dust you are blowing out of the case. However as was already stated, If you like your computer to be running it is inadvisable to use the vacuum on the inside of the case.
 
#8 ·
I currently work for a school district and we blow them out and vacuum them out with mini hand held shop vac's. It was recommended for us to do so from HP.

If you have 1000+ computers there is no way someone is going to manually blow them out or use compressed air.
 
#9 ·
The amout of static that a vacuum produces is proportional (generally) to the amount of dust thats moving about. Compressed air is only superior because you can do it in short isolated bursts to minimize the movement and rubbing. But generally a vacuum isnt powerful enough to even get dust out of most heat sinks so you just displace it with something else (like a paint brush) then use the vacuum to quickly dispose of the dust, as well as anything lingering at the bottom and around the case. If you dont do stupid things like hold it against the motherboard (of which you wont get that thin layer of dust off anyway) then you should be fine. Oh, and make sure the whole thing is grounded (but thats kinda obvious)

Chances are the drive is dying and should just be replaced, quite a few drives (except OEM) have 3 year warrentys and some have even more than that, so i would check that out.
 
#10 ·
Actually the dust movement has nothing to do with the generation of the static electricity. It is generally cause by the movement of 2 insulating substances across each other. Air is an insulator as is the plastic in the vacuum. Thus generating a static charge.

I have 20+ years of experience as a Microminiature Electronic Component Repair Technician, and have seen first hand what might be thought of as a harmless little charge can do to a microcircuit. It Ain't pretty.

Instead of the small cans of compressed air perhaps you can get one of those air cylendars you can buy for about $20 at Walmart that you can recharge from any air compressor. you can also get an air hose and spray nozzle. I have used one of these setups myself in the past.
 
#11 ·
I currently work for a school district and we blow them out and vacuum them out with mini hand held shop vac's. It was recommended for us to do so from HP.

If you have 1000+ computers there is no way someone is going to manually blow them out or use compressed air.
No matter how many pc's you have, that is still not the right way to clean them. Can of air is the only way to go, sorry so get a few of them. Whether you use a can of air or a compressor to blow the insides out is fine, but no vacuum hoses inside any towers, please.
 
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