Loud noise

[kuzzz]

The PC makes a loud noise when booting up occasionally and continues for about 7 minutes then stops. And doesn't do it anymore. It sounds like it's lagging. I've rebooted several times to try and repeat it but it won't. So it only does it after being off over night and not with every boot up. I've checked all the fans and they are all working fine.

Thank you
kuzzz



Win 7 Home Premium
Service Pack 1
model: Tectrium
Intel Pentium(R) CPU G645 @ 290 GHz
4 gig ram
64-bit

[Digerati]

Where is the sound coming from? From inside the computer case or through the speakers?

If from inside the computer case, you will need to remove the side panel then poke your head in there while it is making the noise to "see and hear" if you can pinpoint the source.

Hopefully, it will be something simple like a fan blade scraping a wire - but sadly it sounds (no pun intended) like something else.

The fact it only does it in the morning when it has completely cooled down suggests it is a motor and the bearings are beginning to wear. Hopefully, it will be a fan motor as fans are much easier (and cheaper) to replace. But sadly, this could be a drive motor too.

So for sure, you need to make sure you have a backup of any data you don't want to loose because if a motor, it WILL seize up completely - eventually.

If you cannot pinpoint the source with your ears, gently touch the center hub of each fan for just a second. If the noise is coming from that fan, you will easily hear a change in the noise as the rotation speed slows down and then returns. If no change, move to the next fan.

For fans hard to reach, use a wooden Popsicle/glue/cuticle stick to gently slow down the fan.

Note if your PC has a separate graphics card and it has a fan, it is likely located under the card and may be harder to see and reach.

If all the fans are good, then it likely is a hard drive. If you have more than one hard drive, you can often rest your finger on the drive's case and feel for excessive vibrations coming from within to pinpoint which drive is failing. If you cannot isolate the offending drive that way, it may be necessary to unmount and slide out the drive from the drive bay, one drive at a time. Then, with the drive still connect to the cables, swing the drive outside the case and boot. If that drive is making the noise, it should be easy to hear the noise is coming from it.

Good luck.

[kuzzz]

Thank you for your info. I will do as you suggested. I don't know how long this will take because it only makes the noise occasionally. I will let you know the results.

kuzzz

[smurfy]

Just a quick note - before you start touching stuff while the power is on, try using a long cardboard tube (like an empty paper towel roll) with your ear at one end while pointing the other end around inside the case to get better directional focus on each component to isolate the source. Much safer and usually works.

[Digerati]

Yeah, that's a good point. If the source of the sound is not easily discernible, a make-shift stethoscope using a paper towel tube should work. And, being made of paper/cardboard, there is no danger of ESD (static discharge) or shorting something out.

Originally Posted by kuzzz

I don't know how long this will take because it only makes the noise occasionally.

I understand. Intermittent problems are always the most difficult to troubleshoot - especially if you cannot duplicate them on-demand. But for sure, because this could be a hard drive, don't delay backing up your important data.

[kuzzz]

I can't make it make the sound anymore but just in case nit is the hard drive wanting to die I want to back up everything on my hard drive I bought a external hard drive. What is the best way to do this. I've heard of people making a ISO file where you take a picture of your of your hard drive. Do you need special software to be able to do this? Or would it be easier just to back up all files separately. Or is there another or better way?

Thank you
kuzzz

[smurfy]

I use CloneZilla - write an image of the entire disk to your external drive.
If the HDD does fail, you replace it and restore the image to the new disk. By far the best "one-off" backup method... but not the best if you want incremental backups of anything you do between now and when the disk drops dead.