Has somebody hacked my computer ?

[valpanig]

Recently i noticed strange behavior in my system. When it is not in use, i can hear relatively high frequency mechanical sound resembling laser tracking mechanism of the hard drive.
This happened three times already.
During normal use there are no problems indicating hard drive defects, system only 1 year old. I am wondering what causing this strange behavior like somebody sitting in the case and typewriting everything there is. I installed Norton 360 a month ago and Bad Company.
I doubt that it's anti virus working in the background. Could it be that somebody reading my files remotely ? Again , this is happens sometimes before computer goes to sleep mode when not in use on win7.
Thank you.

 

[joelmartinez]

It's possible someone is hacking your computer but not likely at all, why? do you store a bunch of company info and bank through the computer, if yes it could be someone hacking your computer, first thing I would do would be to download Malwarebytes anti-malware and superantispyware and run complete scans, download at cnet.com.

Have you noticed your computer slowing down, has your credit info been stolen recently, do you get weird pop-ups if no to all I wouldn't worry.

 

[valpanig]

It's possible someone is hacking your computer but not likely at all, why? do you store a bunch of company info and bank through the computer, if yes it could be someone hacking your computer, first thing I would do would be to download Malwarebytes anti-malware and superantispyware and run complete scans, download at cnet.com.

Have you noticed your computer slowing down, has your credit info been stolen recently, do you get weird pop-ups if no to all I wouldn't worry.

I haven't noticed any slowdowns nor weird pop ups. My files are not hack worthy also. I am a bit puzzled what triggers that behavior. Thank you for the reply.

 

[joelmartinez]

Have you already looked to see if your particular hard drive has known issues, what sort of a sound is it, are you sure it is from hard drive

 

[valpanig]

Have you already looked to see if your particular hard drive has known issues, what sort of a sound is it, are you sure it is from hard drive

I will pay closer attention when it happens again, i can only suspect dvd drive or hard drive
i know that hard drive usually quiet. Even if it's disc drive, why it would behave like this when no load applied. This first happened after game installation and Norton 360

The sound is very similar to damped printing mechanism, something moving back and forth quickly.

 

[joelmartinez]

maybe dvd drive the dvd drive is active whenever the computer starts, a dvd is read, the eject/inject button is presssed, when windows explorer is open, and sometimes when the computer sleeps

 

[valpanig]

maybe dvd drive the dvd drive is active whenever the computer starts, a dvd is read, the eject/inject button is presssed, when windows explorer is open, and sometimes when the computer sleeps

Then i will remove game dvd from it.
Never had similar issues before and expected any noticeable activity after specific commands from the user end. Hope it's a minor glitch.

 

[mdd1963]

Windows will store everything currently happening into mem/and or a quickly accessible location prior to entering sleep mode, so that portion is not a concern.

Other things that can cause drive activity--AV updates, WIndows security/patch updates, etc....

 

[valpanig]

Windows will store everything currently happening into mem/and or a quickly accessible location prior to entering sleep mode, so that portion is not a concern.

Other things that can cause drive activity--AV updates, WIndows security/patch updates, etc....

I understand, time to disable automatic updates and basically turn off computer when not in use. Didn't know those updates can occur in sleep mode.
Thank you for your time.

 

[valpanig]

maybe dvd drive the dvd drive is active whenever the computer starts, a dvd is read, the eject/inject button is presssed, when windows explorer is open, and sometimes when the computer sleeps

Hello, i promised to get back about funny sound while system was in sleep mode

it happened again so i observed closely and found out it was laser in the dvd drive trying to settle on some position. It was funny why it would do that in sleep mode.
My guess is that Norton 360 or win7 didn't like presence of Bad Company dvd inside.

 

[joelmartinez]

my ODD gets loud with sims 3 in there frequently don't worry about it

 

[valpanig]

my ODD gets loud with sims 3 in there frequently don't worry about it

I try to take it out whenever i can.
Thank you for great feedback.

 

[joelmartinez]

I'm too lazy too

 

[valpanig]

Best answer selected by valpanig.