3 yr old pc build with noisy HDD. Want to use a SSD with it, while the HDD idles

hugoohgraham · Aug 21, 2017

I have a 3 year old pc with a 4TB western digital HDD which is a great hard drive with the exception of the load noise it emits, as well as the slow speed it runs at. Would it be possible to run programs off of as SSD, while the HDD idles (hopefully silent). There would also be the problem of reinstalling all of my programs onto it (I have quite a few as this is a gaming/work computer). Also, just as a point of curiosity, if I removed my hard drive, booted up the system with another, then took the new one out and put the old one back in, would everything be the same as before?
Thanks in advance

Gahl1k · Aug 21, 2017

Loud noises from HDD means it is physically failing—it will still work, though. To be sure that it is your HDD that's making those noises, unplug the power and data cables, and boot up your PC. If there is still noise, then your HDD is not the source of it (Maybe it's the Disc drive, PSU, or Case/CPU Fan). If the noise is gone, then plug the power cable only, and power up the computer, if there is no noise, it's possibly that your data cable is damaged and needs to be replaced, otherwise, a replacement for HDD is needed.

Sometimes, running a Hard Drive Diagnostic software could solve a few problems with HDD. I would get WD Diagnostic Tool, and run it to see if there are any problems with the HDD.

You will need to reinstall all of your programs on SSD if you installed the OS on it, unfortunately.
You can do a Swap between your HDD and SSD, transferring all of your programs and files from the HDD on to the SSD, but that usually ends up with Black/Blue Screens of Death, Boot Loop, Boot Failure, PC not powering up, PC not working with an HDD connected, or HDD not working with SSD.

To go around this, I always seek backing up all the files on an external hard drive or a USB stick, doing a fresh install of Windows on SSD, then restoring the backed up files on the SSD.

Swapping between new and old components in PC often leads to serious issues that could probably have a lasting effect. For example, I have tried to swap between a new and an old DDR3 RAMs—that ended up with the new RAM malfunctioned, and the PSU fried. Yours, however, could end up with corrupted files, or BOOT looped PC.

hugoohgraham · Aug 21, 2017

Gahl1k :

Loud noises from HDD means it is physically failing—it will still work, though. To be sure that it is your HDD that's making those noises, unplug the power and data cables, and boot up your PC. If there is still noise, then your HDD is not the source of it (Maybe it's the Disc drive, PSU, or Case/CPU Fan). If the noise is gone, then plug the power cable only, and power up the computer, if there is no noise, it's possibly that your data cable is damaged and needs to be replaced, otherwise, a replacement for HDD is needed.

Sometimes, running a Hard Drive Diagnostic software could solve a few problems with HDD. I would get WD Diagnostic Tool, and run it to see if there are any problems with the HDD.

You will need to reinstall all of your programs on SSD if you installed the OS on it, unfortunately.
You can do a Swap between your HDD and SSD, transferring all of your programs and files from the HDD on to the SSD, but that usually ends up with Black/Blue Screens of Death, Boot Loop, Boot Failure, PC not powering up, PC not working with an HDD connected, or HDD not working with SSD.

To go around this, I always seek backing up all the files on an external hard drive or a USB stick, doing a fresh install of Windows on SSD, then restoring the backed up files on the SSD.

Swapping between new and old components in PC often leads to serious issues that could probably have a lasting effect. For example, I have tried to swap between a new and an old DDR3 RAMs—that ended up with the new RAM malfunctioned, and the PSU fried. Yours, however, could end up with corrupted files, or BOOT looped PC.

Hi,
thanks for the prompt reply! The hard rive has been making these noises since day one, and this is my first pc so I wasnt sure whether those noises were meant to be there or not. I will check out the WD diagnostics tool and think about getting a hard drive. Thanks for all the helpful advice.

Search

3 yr old pc build with noisy HDD. Want to use a SSD with it, while the HDD idles

hugoohgraham

Prominent

Gahl1k

Honorable

hugoohgraham

Prominent

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page