I've recently been noticing a strange noise coming from my computer - I'm fairly sure it's not any of my fans and am thinking it's one (if not both, though probably just one) of my two hard drives. I was wondering is there any way to test if a hard drive is failing? I don't want to lose all the info. on my HDs, but I don't exactly have the money to spare on a new HD if this is a "just in case" scenario...
disconnect the drive you suspect and see if it still makes the noise.. if so it isnt the drive What sort of noise is it? AFAIK a clicking type noise is fairly common for a drive that is about to die (note: a loud bang and a puff of smoke isn't particularly good sign for a drive either)
Well, see the thing is... it doesn't always make the noise, and it doesn't seem partial to any kind excessive stress to the PC/hard drive (gaming, copying big files, etc.) because it also will kick in occassionally when the computer is just idling. And the sound itself sounds like... umm... well, it's not a clicking noise. It sounds like a more constant buzzing... sort of like an EXTREMELY mild sounding chainsaw (I emphasize extremely mild because it does not sound like there is a freaking chainsaw in my PC, but rather the same concept of a loud, continuous buzzing sound like a chainsaw makes - best/only example I can think of). But is there no software or anything I can run/use that will be like "Oof! Your system can't handle this test... your HD must be teh sux"? (That, or ideally it could even use proper grammar, but beggars can't be choosey I suppose.)
Go to the manufacturer's website and see if there are any diagnostic tools available - usually, they should do a testing program of some sort. Also, when the sound starts, try stopping some of the fans in your system; it's more likely to be one of those rather than the hard disk.
Indeed, could be a northbridge fan or summit? If you have speedfan it'll give you a SMART reading from the drive, and also allow you to drop fan speeds. When the noise kicks in again, fire it up, run the diagnostic on the drive, then drop your fan speeds a little and see if the noise stops (thats assuming the board offers full control over all the fans, which tbh it should)
Enable SMART in your BIOS, then while the pc is booting you should see something like "imminent hard drive failure" if one of the drives is on its way out.
You could try running the pc with the case open and your finger on the HD, you might be able to feel clicks.
download UBCD (ultimate boot cd) everybody should have one lots of diagnistics tools. both memtest and disktests. edit: link: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
