Hard Drive Unusual Sounds/Noises

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anomaliesScareMe

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Samsung F3 Spinpoint (or so I think... as I have 2 HDDs, not sure which is causing the noise).

The noise is quite intermittent, I recall most of it occurring upon bootup. It has been happening for the last 2 years or less. Am I just shooting myself in the foot and ignoring the inevitable (aka. HDD failure)? Should I replace this HDD immediately?

S.M.A.R.T says all is good (I think)

I think the 2nd audio is a bit more clear, please disregard the loud computer fan in the background.

http://ge.tt/58kX1q92?c

Hopefully someone can offer their opinion on whether this is something to be concerned about.

Thanks
 
Solution
D_Know_WD
Hi there anomaliesScareMe,

As you are experiencing some HDD issues, I would advise you to start with backing up the most crucial data that is stored on the drives.
Apart from that, it may be a good idea to open up the computer case and see which drive is making the strange noise. Also, by opening the case up, you will get a clearer picture whether any of the HDD is making the noise or is comes from another component.
It will be a good idea to test the drives with a brand specific testing tool(or a third party one) and see whether they will pass the tests. Providing S.M.A.R.T results may help as well.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD
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Rayven2

Rayven2

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It's a bit hard to figure it out from the audio files you've provided, is it kind of a whining sound? If so it's wearing out slowly. You'll know this especially if it gets louder through the weeks. However you can further describe the sound for me but it's never a good thing if a HDD is making sounds it never did before.

Make sure you find out which one it is and make a backup asap. Here's one of the best free programs for it; http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

Select a solution if you don't have further questions, however you can explain the sounds to me further if you wish.
 
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anomaliesScareMe

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Thanks for the response Rayven.

The audio itself delineates it enough for me, however I will try to elaborate further. I wouldn't describe it as a whining sound, it sounds more like a grinding noise (not extreme like evident on YouTube, probably not the best adjective here), rather it's probably almost like a soft drilling noise (that's probably the closest I can get to describing it audibly).

It is definitely not like the extremely loud/heavy drilling noise seen here under Seagate: http://datacent.com/hard_drive_sounds.php
 
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Rayven2

Rayven2

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Hmm, drilling sounds normally mean the head is going. As mentioned on the site you provided as well. Sounds like it might just be in the early stages as of now. I'd certainly consider replacing the HDD. Just do a backup before it's too late.
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Hi there anomaliesScareMe,

As you are experiencing some HDD issues, I would advise you to start with backing up the most crucial data that is stored on the drives.
Apart from that, it may be a good idea to open up the computer case and see which drive is making the strange noise. Also, by opening the case up, you will get a clearer picture whether any of the HDD is making the noise or is comes from another component.
It will be a good idea to test the drives with a brand specific testing tool(or a third party one) and see whether they will pass the tests. Providing S.M.A.R.T results may help as well.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD
 
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anomaliesScareMe

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Great thanks Rayven.

And perhaps that wasn't a good description... it probably sounds close to a rattle/chatter noise like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yVDC39lEIw, however obviously it isn't exactly the same. To be honest, I'm not really sure how to describe it after listening to a lot of hard drive sounds over the past few hours.

It's been ongoing for the last 2 years and so it sort of worries me more or less if you say this is the early stages.

Also, is it possible to disable (one) of the (two) hard drives via the BIOS just so that I can isolate which HDD the noise is actually coming from?

Cheers,

 
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anomaliesScareMe

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Thank you for that. I will try to isolate the components. However, it is a bit of a hit and miss as the noise is intermittent... and also I believe the last time I tried, I still could not isolate where it was coming from.
S.M.A.R.T results for both drives (Samsung and Western Digital respectively): https://hostr.co/file/970/KJFZ8xmd3SC1/SMARTlog.png
 
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Rayven2

Rayven2

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Yeah I can imagine, if it's been two years then something might just be loose in the actual case or they aren't screwed in stable? It's really hard to say without physically being able to look at it. As mentioned back up important files in case it does decide to give out.
As for disabling one, you could disable the sata port in BIOS etc but it might just be easier unplugging the one without the OS so you don't have to go through the trouble of re-enabling etc. If there is still a noise it's that one if not its the other. Might just be the easier more straight forward option.
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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The HDDs should be fine according to the results. Still, I would advise to open up the computer case and see which one(if any) makes the weird noise. If the noise that one of the drives makes while being accessed differs(in a bad way) than the one of the other one, then I guess you should consider replacing it.
Regarding your question about disabling one of the two drives, I would say that your secondary HDD will eventually spin down if it is not being accessed by anything(antivirus programs as well).

D_Know_WD
 
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anomaliesScareMe

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That makes sense thanks. I currently don't have an external HDD with available space to perform the backup. May I ask what sort of backup strategy do you implement in terms of duration b/w backups and the type of backup (full/incremental/differential)?

I also don't access that 2nd HDD a lot, if at all. It is more like a storage HDD. Should I actually just disable it via the BIOS until I actually need to access it? Would that help or assist with the lifetime of the HDD?


Thank you both for the help.
 
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anomaliesScareMe

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Great thank you for that.

I suppose that answers my above question in that I never knew the secondary HDD would spin down if it is not being accessed. I rarely use it as it only exists for archival purposes. Or would it be best to just disable it via the BIOS anyway?
 
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Rayven2

Rayven2

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If your secondary is fine and you rarely use it you might as well do a back up on that. Also as D_Know_WD mentioned it shouldn't make a difference at all. Hope that answers all your questions.

Edit: Don't forget to select one of our solutions.
 
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