"Grinding" sound

[Mo0by]

The last couple of times I've turned on the computer its made some really worrying loud "grinding" sound, like something is vibrating. Both times Ive turned it off immediately, checked the fans, then turned it back on. By then it seems to have lessened, and I'm pretty sure now the computer is back to its normal state. Can I fix this problem?

[TheHeartSmasher]

Re: "Grinding" sound

You would have to find out where the noise is coming from. It could be the graphics card fan going or the power supply fan or a disc/hard drive. Easiest way to find out is to open the case and find the noise, or unplug everything that has moving parts then plug things in one by one until you hear the noise. Once you find out what is making the noise order a replacement part.

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: "Grinding" sound

are any of your hard drives very close to being full? Happened to one of my hard drives when it was dangerously full. It didnt die, once i transferred some of the data off it to DVD it was fine again.

[=98=]

Re: "Grinding" sound

are any of your hard drives very close to being full? Happened to one of my hard drives when it was dangerously full. It didnt die, once i transferred some of the data off it to DVD it was fine again.

There is no such thing as "dangerously" full. The only thing i imagine is that the hard disk needle was vibrating when reading a segment of a platter.

The noise could be anything from vibrating hard disks, broken motor in the DVD drive or even a cable in a fan. You need to isolate and find the noise.

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: "Grinding" sound

well i have found that with any hard drives which have become over 90% full, the drive head has had to shift around an aweful lot more to read data. It could be coincidence but my studio managers 250GB music drive died as did a mates 160GB macbook pro hard drive and they where both full to the brim. Surely if the drive head is vibrating when reading a particular segment that could damage it or the disk.

[=98=]

Re: "Grinding" sound

What you are referring to is "disk thrashing". It's not a grinding noise, it's more constant clicking and spinning up.

By grinding, i'm thinking potentially broken fan motor?

[jake_]

Re: "Grinding" sound

There is no such thing as "dangerously" full. The only thing i imagine is that the hard disk needle was vibrating when reading a segment of a platter.

The noise could be anything from vibrating hard disks, broken motor in the DVD drive or even a cable in a fan. You need to isolate and find the noise.

:nod: QFT on both points. That's a BIG and FAT old wives' tale that a HDD is "too full." Trust me, I've run a laptop on less than 100 MB of free space before for a few days and it was fine. :awes


The grinding noise obviously has to be a moving component (fan, HDD, etc). Taking one thing out at a time will be the fastest way to find the problematic device.

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: "Grinding" sound

try leaving it like that for a month or so... i dare ya :p

[=98=]

Re: "Grinding" sound

try leaving it like that for a month or so... i dare ya :p

... and nothing will happen. There is no difference between having it empty or full. The disk doesn't work from the inside out, it works in segments.

It's an old wives tale, don't believe it.

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: "Grinding" sound

but large files do get fragmeted in large disks so the head has to go between segments

[=98=]

Re: "Grinding" sound

Yes, but all that will cause is disk thrashing, not a grinding noise.

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: "Grinding" sound

Point taken but what i was saying was it could still damage the disk when its full to the brim. Especially if its a single drive where the system files are along with all your data and everything tends to get jumbled around.

Kind of drifting off topic though :/

[megawhompertoo]

Re: "Grinding" sound

Point taken but what i was saying was it could still damage the disk when its full to the brim. Especially if its a single drive where the system files are along with all your data and everything tends to get jumbled around.

Kind of drifting off topic though :/

aye, instead of lasting 8-10 years, that hard drive might only last 7 years and 11 months to 9 years and 11 months as a result of increased drive seek ops.

not needling you. i promise. just saying... :)

op's issue is most likely the gpu fan. usually crap OEM spec'd wind turbines unfortunately. if not that, then check to make sure your cables aren't contacting a fan (keep in mind heat expands things incrementally), and after that start unplugging chassis fans, hd's, and dvd/cd r/rw's to isolate said noise.

whatever stops making the noise when you unplug it...throw it some money*!

*i'm considering using this in my sig.

[Death Merchant]

Re: "Grinding" sound

Ideally you want to leave a couple of gigabyte on a harddisk for OS page file and temporary files if theres no room for them then the pc will slow down. But no damage will be done to the hard-disk even if its totally full

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: "Grinding" sound

i guess my previous examples must have been coincidence then