Hard Drive Buzzing.....

TechTerry

Hello, recently my HDD has started making a buzzing noise. Not sure what this could be as when i turn off the system it stops buzzing and returns to normal but will start buzzing again later. Signs that its about to die?

I was thinking of ringing Dell up but im not sure if i would be still in warrenty as i have put a new sound card and TV tuner in, their was no seal and everything looks to me as if it wants to be upgraded such as the button that pops the side panels off and the tool-less PCI slots.

Do you think Dell would issue me with a new HDD if i rang them up and asked them? I have only had the PC for about 4 months.

angelavdavis

Are you sure it is the Hard disk drive and not the fan?

Power down the PC, open up the PC (ensure you touch the outer case of the PC first) and check that it isn't clogged with dust, etc. If it is, you might want to gingerly clean it up with some dry q-tips (if you need to wet the q-tip - use alcohol). Once cleaned up, replace casing and reboot.

If the noise is still there, give them a ring - the least they can do is say no. Not sure if you opening the PC has invalidated the warranty to be honest.

If the noise is definitely coming from the HDD and not the fan, you need to ensure your data is backed up before phoning Dell.

TechTerry

Its defo the HDD, im going to do a backup in a few hours.

Thats what im not sure about, it read the manuals and its dont say anything about voiding the warrenty by opening the case, no indication on the case, it is an XPS system so i think it was designed to be easily upgradable, i spoke to dell on the live chat thing and they said as im an XPS user i got a dedicated line, lucky me, but is a high rate number.

And yes im quite techy, i have checked everything i can think off, and yes i touch the case and use an wristband, ESD is my major fear in life. lol. I have only had the problem scince i have installed the new sound card, but i wasent near the HDD's so i cant see how i would of broke them, and its not like any of my data has been lost....YET....

S0litaire

Support wise Dell is Quite good at supporting things since they do not stick a "Breaking invalidates warranty" seal on their boxes, they don't mind you adding things but they may ask you to remove them so they can run tests on the exact same specs you received from them.

Give them a phone and tell them about the noise, ~It may be a fan but if you can backup your important data,

better safe than sorry!

TechTerry

Im sure its the HDD, never had a dell before so not sure on support, never had to use support from a manafacture before so im not too sure on rules, but its a 750GB HDD so going to be quite expencive for me to replace, especially as i just spend £70 on a new sound card xD

Would they mind if i partioned it, i have C drive, Media drive and recovery.

S0litaire

Nope!

But best to stick "Recovery" and any back ups on a different drive.
If the drive fails you loose your recovery!

If you call Dell and it IS a Drive problem they will replace it usually 2 working days but depends on what support you got.

If you got the "On-Site" warranty then a guy comes out takes a look and replaces the drive right there and then,

They will either leave the drive with a return box so you can get the data off before returning it or will transfer all the data to the new drive for you!

TechTerry

Ok great, well i only had it 4 months and i got it from PC world and its an XPS.

I have uploaded some lovley sounds for you to listen too.

Normal PC read and write on startup:

http://harman-media.com/Microphone%20(Logitech%20Mic%20(Pro%205000))%202008-05-30%2014-03-50.wma

HDD after about 15 mins after startup:

http://harman-media.com/Microphone%20(Logitech%20Mic%20(Pro%205000))%202008-05-30%2014-10-41.wma

My weird buzzing after pc been on for about an hour.

http://harman-media.com/Microphone%20(Logitech%20Mic%20(Pro%205000))%202008-05-30%2014-00-16.wma

as you can see after a restart it goes back to normal.

What you guys think, im sure that buzzing is not normal considering thats the computer doing nothing.

EDIT: just had a look at dell and it says i got:
Next Business DayDELL11/03/200810/06/2009376

for my warrenty.

S0litaire

to me the first 2 sound like dodgy fans in the case

Can't place what the third sounds like, but contact DELL ASAP

tom9980

Thats a strange buzz! sounds electrical almost, possibly even internal speaker? hard to say really dont think we can give you an easy answer. I would definatley suggest you test by removing the components you added to eliminate them and of course make sure you remove them if they want to "take it away"

TechTerry

no no no, @ s0litaire that is the HDD reading and writing, they are normal sounds the 3rd one is the bad buzzing.

Something weird happened....it was getting really lound a min ago and then now its silent....

S0litaire

As i said contact "DELL"