How to fix a cracking hard drive. Why does the hard drive in my computer crack? Reducing hard drive rattling using the WinAAM program

Hard drives are almost silent, but some make a muffled clicking sound when the read head is accessed or the computer shuts down - this is normal. If the sound appears only occasionally or noises that have not been heard before - clicking, grinding, vibration or squealing - then the hard drive is probably faulty. There are several types of sound glitches.

The following steps will help you determine whether your hard drive is actually noisy and, if so, what to do next before your precious files disappear forever.

What to do if your hard drive is very noisy?

Time Required: This troubleshooting takes anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours, depending on the cause of the strange sound.

You need to make sure that the hard drive is the audio source and not another hardware component.

• If you disconnect the drive's power cable and the data wire hard drive. Is there still a noise when starting up? Then the problem is not in the hard drive!
• Try another option to correctly determine the source. If the noise stops when you connect the power cable, but returns when you connect or use other interfaces to the hard drive, you will likely need to replace the data cable.

If in fact the hard drive is faulty, run a free diagnostic program for hard drives, which is available on the Internet. Professional diagnostic programs are also available for purchase from third party developers.

• When running a diagnostic program, it is better to close other programs and disconnect drives or devices that you are not testing so that the results are not distorted.
• Diagnostic applications will only mark hard drive sectors that fail as "bad" and prevent the computer from using the damaged areas in the future. In reality, sectors will not be healed if there is a physical malfunction.

If the corrections made by diagnostic programs do not temporarily eliminate the noise, perform a full backup of the computer and replace the hard drive.

If diagnostic apps help fix clicking (noises), grinding, or squealing sounds, remember that this is a temporary solution. It is likely that the noise will continue during operation until the serviceability of the device is completely lost.

The permanent solution when the noise starts is to take a full system backup and replace the hard drive as soon as possible.

Is your hard drive still working poorly?

External drives, like internal ones, also make sound. These noises are heard when the drive is first connected to the computer and are often caused by a faulty power connection or cable.

There is no panacea for restoring a faulty hard drive; it is important to protect your files by performing regular backups. With an updated backup, recovering from a hard drive failure is as easy as installing a new one and restoring your files.

Backup a bad disk

The best way to create a backup is an online service Reserve copy on the Internet because files are stored in the cloud and are less susceptible to loss or damage. A quick way is to use a free backup program - some of these programs can even clone files from a failed hard drive and place them on a new working hard drive.

Try to correct noise from an external hard drive by connecting the power adapter directly to a wall outlet using or USB ports 2.0+. You can connect your hard drive to a USB port on the back of your computer. Make sure the USB port is working correctly.

Defragmentation of a noisy hard drive

A fragmented hard drive provides better speed for moving files than one that is not fragmented. Available free programs defragmentation to extend service life, but this probably will not solve the problem on most noisy hard drives.

If the hard drive makes a sound, it means it is turned on. However, you may not be able to boot into the operating system to use the files normally. This is not a common occurrence; the sound may be caused by a faulty device.

Other noises that are generated by the computer

The hard drive is not the only computer component that makes a strange sound. Power supply, fan, and other devices that may make noise during operation. It is important to know where the noise is coming from to understand what needs to be fixed.

For example, if the computer is in overdrive for a specific task. Let's say when you start a video game, you can hear the fan spinning faster to maintain hardware cooling. There may be something stuck in the fan blades causing a strange noise.

Listen and analyze noise

When you open a program or computer window, you may hear a noise that gets louder and louder - it's easy to make a mistake. This probably means that there is a disk in the drive that is spinning faster than before in order for the computer to receive data, this is normal.

Read in the article, Examples of sounds from a failed hard drive and how to identify them. Sounds of clicking or rustling, vibration or whistling that were not there before. A working hard drive is a fairly quiet device that can only be heard by a soft click when accessing it or turning on/off the computer. But if, over time, clicking or rustling sounds are heard from the hard drive, as well as vibration or whistling that were not heard before, then the hard drive may have failed.

Western Digital

The dull sound of faulty hard drive heads.

Faulty disk heads click slowly several times, after which the disk spins slower.

Slowdown of the rotation of the hard disk platters after the failed heads produce several clicking sounds.

HDD with a jammed spindle it cannot unwind.

Clicking sounds of a hard drive with a failed preamp chip.

A disk with unstable heads that stops after several clicks.

A laptop hard drive with a jammed spindle that tries to spin up, making a sound similar to a siren.

The computer hard drive cannot spin up due to faulty bearings.

Seagate

Rustling and clicking sounds made by a disk with inoperative heads.

The sounds that a disk with damaged heads makes during startup (plate spinning).

Clicks of faulty laptop hard drive heads.

A disk with a jammed spindle is trying to unwind.

The drilling sound of broken disk heads.

Maxtor

A computer hard drive with a non-working or broken head unit.

Clicks of inoperative heads.

The sound made by a disk with a jammed spindle.

Samsung

A fast clicking sound indicates the failure of the hard drive heads.

Same as with the previous disc.

The sound of damaged hard drive heads.

Worn out computer drive that makes a scratching sound when accessed bad sectors.

Hitachi/IBM

A laptop hard drive with damaged heads clicks during startup and then beeps.

A worn-out computer drive that makes a scratching sound when accessing an area with bad sectors.

A disk with worn plates and head block makes wheezing and howling sounds.

The whirring of a laptop disk with a jammed spindle that is trying to unwind.

Toshiba

The sound of failed laptop hard drive bearings.

The sound of worn-out laptop hard drive bearings.

The sound of the laptop hard drive bearings seizing.

Fujitsu

Worn laptop hard drive heads.

Faulty laptop hard drive heads.

The sound of worn-out computer hard drive platters.

Quantum

Faulty head block.

What to do if your hard drive starts making strange sounds

• First of all, make sure that the hard drive is the source of the sound.
• Once you are sure that it is the hard drive that is making the sounds that are bothering you, run the hard drive diagnostic utility. You can use both those supplied by manufacturers with the device, and from third-party manufacturers. Just keep in mind that in the best case scenario, the diagnostic utility will detect and limit the use of bad sectors on the hard drive that may be causing the drive to malfunction or become unstable. If there is mechanical damage or wear on the hard drive, it cannot be corrected using software.
• If, after using the diagnostic software, nothing has changed in the operation of the disk, it is recommended to immediately create a copy of the data on such a hard disk or its image for further recovery.
  How to create an image of a failed or damaged disk using Hetman Partition Recovery.
• If, as a result of using diagnostic or restorative software The sounds of the hard drive have partially or completely disappeared, then it is possible that there are bad sectors on it. In this case, it is still recommended to create a backup of all data on the hard drive and think about replacing it, since bad sectors may continue to appear on the disk and this will eventually lead to data loss or failure.

Other sounds your computer may make

The hard drive is not the only device on the computer that can produce sound. It could also be a power supply, cooler, CD/DVD drive, or other devices connected to it. SSD drives do not make any sounds because they have no moving parts. Therefore, before taking any action, it is important to correctly determine the source of the sound.

If the computer is performing some complex tasks or running a resource-intensive game, then it will be normal if the computer becomes louder - the computer cooler will spin faster to cool it. Sometimes, a dirty or broken cooler makes more noise than other devices.

It is also normal for a CD/DVD drive to make noise when reading or copying data from it.

If it didn’t make noise before, but now it makes noise, this is not normal. A properly functioning disk can emit a slight, uniform noise/whistle and frequent, not too loud clicks during reading/writing (this is a slight uneven rattling, this is the magnetic heads moving).

If the disk rattles or vibrates, this is very bad. Most likely, he won't last long. Theoretically, the reason could be that it is poorly secured (and then it rattles along with your drive bay, the walls of which (the bay) are not strong enough to hold the drive while it is running). I've seen this reference. But it’s hard for me to imagine how fragile, “cardboard” the walls of the fastenings must be for this to happen. Except for the case when you manually installed a 3-inch hard drive into a 5-inch bay (for this you must use a special adapter mount, such a 3-inch bay inserted inside a 5-inch one). In this case, rattling is likely.

If the problem is not in the fastening, then (discarding all the super-exotic options that happen once in a million) the disk is faulty. If it's under warranty, replace it. If it is clearly rattling (not humming evenly, but rattling), this is a malfunction, so it must be replaced. If a disc is without warranty, then you can no longer count on it. Make a backup copy of all important data and prepare for the fact that it could die at any moment. When my hard drive began to make suspicious noise, I immediately bought a new one and copied all important information, A old disk put it in the closet (in case I forgot to copy down some important information).

You can also check the status (“health”) of the disk (this information is collected by the disk itself during operation, the technology is called S.M.A.R.T. or SMART). It contains information about the number of different errors during the operation of the disk (a small number of errors is completely normal). To display this information, you will most likely need a special program. Convenient program I can’t tell you (if you know English, you can search for hdd health check). However, caution should be exercised. If the disk is not in order, prolonged active operation of the disk during an in-depth test (not just displaying statistics collected by SMART, but testing the disk’s operation) may be the straw that will lead to a sharp deterioration in the condition of the disk.

If the disk is just slightly noisy, then this is noise from the drive (motor) (or perhaps bearings). Considering that the disc rotates at a speed of under 10,000 rpm, it is quite expected that it is slightly noisy.

I have an old computer at work. Today I heard some kind of vibration several times. That is, something was rattling in the system unit. Since the system one was open, I looked there, listened, there was indeed something buzzing, it sounded like vibration, it buzzed a couple of times and then it continued to work. I can’t figure out what this buzzing is, but I have Word turned on and during its operation the cooler buzzes very loudly, the sound is like a ringing. And in the morning, after turning on and loading the computer, for some reason we rebooted ourselves. Moreover, I didn’t turn anything on it. I would like to know what this could be. I save everything I type on the computer in Word to a flash drive. But this is after the end of the working day. But now I’ll probably save everything on a flash drive after the hard drive vibrates. Since my work computer will most likely break down soon.

Answer

3 more comments

Model question

Hello.

I recently bought a laptop and only after some time I noticed that when I download a file, turn on the laptop, or copy information from disk to disk, the disk starts to crack. The sound is not strong, but extremely unpleasant.

The store said that everything was fine with the disc, that’s how it should be, but doubts remained in my heart...

If I had known that this model was so noisy, I would have chosen another one... Tell me, what can be done to reduce the noise when the disk is loaded?

Hello.

Crack, crack, discord. In general, a hard drive (HDD) is a mechanical device, and any HDD makes noise when operating. True, with one disc it is subtle and practically inaudible, while with another it can be somewhat annoying. In addition, in addition to the “working” noise (which should be there), extraneous noise may appear (indicating a problem): knocking, strong grinding, clicking, etc.

Particular attention should be paid to disk noise in cases where:

1. if the old disk starts making noise, which previously worked without noise (this is an alarming symptom - first of all, immediately remove all important files from the disk);
2. noise appeared in the form of: knocking, strong clicks, grinding, etc. (all this also indicates a problem with the mechanics);
3. if when a crackling sound appears, the computer starts to freeze, Windows does not respond to your clicks;
4. your files periodically cannot be opened or read, and the disk is noisy.

All of the above symptoms indicate possible hardware problems with the disk (in most cases), and without replacing it with new disk, the noise cannot be eliminated. Therefore, I recommend that after the backup, look at the SMART readings, check the disk for bad blocks, etc. I have one small instruction on disk checking on my blog, link below.

How to check a hard drive for errors and bad sectors (bad blocks). How to work with Victoria program in DOS and Windows -

If your new drive is noisy - then most likely everything is fine with him, and this is his operating noise (although no one rules out defective or failure of the new disk either). Most often, the problem is that when the user bought a disk (laptop, computer) - then in a store (where there are many extraneous noise, music is playing, etc.), he simply did not pay attention to the noise of the disk (and in the store, as a rule, you do not load the disk much). And in the house, in the silence of the night, I appreciated all the characteristics of my device.

But since a computer is a technically complex product, it is easy to exchange it in the store for another (as can be done with other products). In many cases you may be refused (there must be a more compelling reason, for example, a malfunction). Later in the article I will give recommendations on how to eliminate such “working” noise.

Addition!

When purchasing a new HDD: please note that the device specifications usually always indicate the noise level of the drive. This parameter is measured in dB.

Of course, the lower it is, the quieter the disk. Comparison plate (to find out how and what) with the noise level given below.

To help!

How to choose a hard drive (HDD): 6 points worth paying attention to -

1) Change your old HDD to an SSD drive (or another HDD)

The first tip involves material costs. Ideally, to completely eliminate the noise, you need to change the disk. Now SSD drives are gaining popularity - they do not have mechanics, like HDDs, and therefore they are a priori silent during operation (completely silent!).

In addition, they have several more advantages:

1. the operating speed is several times higher (this is the main advantage!), thanks to this, your applications, games, Windows will load an order of magnitude faster;
2. consume less energy (for example, a laptop will work 10-15% longer without recharging);
3. they are not so afraid of shaking and vibration (again, a plus for laptops);
4. They don't get hot like HDDs.

However, these discs have one drawback: higher cost. But it pays off with interest! You can find out the difference in operating speed between an SSD and a HDD drive from one of my articles, the link to it is below.

How to check disk speed: HDD, SSD. Test to determine the difference in speed between SSD and HDD, is it worth switching to a solid-state drive? -

2) Check if there is an application that loads the disk to 100%!

If the disk does not always annoy you with noise, but only at times of heavy load (this may be indicated, for example, by the LED indicator work hard disk) - then try to find out what application is loading it, and then disable it.

Very often, the disk can be loaded with applications that you don’t need. For example, when booting Windows uTorrent is loaded with several hundred torrents: until they are all checked, it may take 5-10 minutes! And all this time the disk will be heavily loaded.

The simplest and quick way to find out about applications that load the disk is to open the task manager (for Windows 8, 10), and open the resource monitor (this is for Windows 7). Once you recognize an application that is actively working with the disk, try closing it.

To call the task manager- press the button combination Ctrl+Shift+Esc.

In Windows 8, 10 - open the tab "Performance" and see if the disk is loaded. If loaded, then in the tab "Processes" you can find the program (which loads it) and close it.

Windows 8-10 - performance (disk load 0%)

In Windows 7, in the task manager you need to open the tab "Performance" , then click on the button "Resource Monitor" .

In Resource Monitor, open the tab "Disk": pay attention to the sections "Processes with disk activity" And "Disk Operation" .

3) Reduce the speed of positioning the block with heads (Automatic Acoustic Management)

Hard drives have certain options that are usually not mentioned anywhere (we are talking about Automatic Acoustic Management now, often abbreviated A.A.M.). This option allows you to reduce the speed of movement of the heads, and this in turn has a positive effect on the noise level (although, in addition, the speed of the disk decreases somewhat, but it is not noticeable to the eye).

You can change this setting in special utilities, I recommend the following: quietHDD, HDDScan. I will consider working in both utilities.

quietHDD

A very small utility designed to reduce the acoustic noise of AAM and the power consumption mode of APM hard drive. Working with it is simple and fast, an example is below:

Multifunctional program for working with SSD and HDD drives. Allows you to view SMART, check the disk for bad sectors, find out the operating temperature of the media, manage acoustic noise, energy, etc.

In our case, you need to run the program, then select the hard drive (if you have several of them in the system), and open the "Features/IDE Features" option.

HDDScan - IDE Features

Further in the section Automatic Acoustic Management- set the value between 128 and 254 (by the way, the program recommends 254, but it is not always optimal). In general, for the minimum noise level - set the value to 128 and press the button SET(install). Thus, you can adjust and find your optimal option.

Note: Please note that not all drives support this option. In some cases, HDDScan will not allow you to change values ​​in Automatic Acoustic Management.

Automatic Acoustic Management

4) Securely fix the disk in the block, eliminate vibrations, use soft gaskets

This advice applies to a regular PC, but if you have a laptop, then your hard drive is almost certainly securely and tightly fixed in the case by the manufacturer (and you don’t have to read this advice).

5) Check for errors and defragment

Well, the last thing I wanted to advise is to check for errors and defragment the disk. Cracking - this, of course, will not directly reduce it, but it will make your disk more responsive, and the operating speed will increase (which will have a positive, albeit small, effect on the noise level).

To check your disk for errors and defragment it, open "My computer" ("This computer", "Computer" - depending on the Windows versions ) . Then select required disk and open it properties(see screenshot below).

By the way, defragmentation and cleaning the disk of debris can be done in auto mode, for this there is special utilities. See below for a link to the utilities I recommend.

To help!

The best programs for Windows optimization -