What does it mean when your hard drive makes static like noises?

[Auggie2k]

I have a hard drive in my sky+ and we have been hearing noises out of it the past few days.

Sky will turn on sometimes but other times it wont. Now I took out the 120GB HD from sky+ (upgraded from 40GB) and I put it in my hard drive external enclosure. I have the 40GB originally in the sky+ box in this.

I put the 120GB in and I hear the noises that sound identical to static.

Any ideas people? Is it fooked because hardware aint cheap here. Thankin you :icon_cycl

[Auggie2k]

Oh, and putting it in my encloser (the 120GB) I hear the plug n play du dum noise but it doesn't appear in my computer. But, a few minutes ago it made the noises, they stopped and then it was readable, but now it's not again. Hmmm?

[cpugeniusmv]

I don't like inconsistency. The drive is definitely not working the way it's supposed to.

(Back up anything important on it if you haven't already)

[mfgbypooter]

Put it in the freezer for awhile.

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[Auggie2k]

Put it in the freezer for awhile.

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Seriously?

[mfgbypooter]

Seriously?

Yes.

http://www.meetmyattorney.com/slink/mt-archives/000275.html

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[Auggie2k]

What about condensation?

EDIT: Sod it, I will give it a go. The only thing on th hard drive is sky+ recordings which aren't a great importance to me.

It's weird though, I only got the hard drive about 6 months ago and it hasn't been touched since. Ah well, here it goes. I'll report back.

[.:sp00ky:.]

Don't put your hd in the freezer :s

[mfgbypooter]

I put a dead one in the freezer and it worked.

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[cpugeniusmv]

Note: put it in a plastic bag first!

Note 2: This is not a permanent fix.

[The Hunter]

Right on CPU, its a method that sometimes works to retrieve data.

[Auggie2k]

Damn, but it still doesn't make sense why this happened. As I said it's only 6 months old and it hasn't moved from sky+ since.

[mountain_rage]

most harddrives have 3 year warranties you should probably look into that.

[cpugeniusmv]

How hot does it get in your case?

[zarquon]

Is the drive spinning up, if not you may be able to remedy by firmly tapping the hard drive on the side.

Alternatively you could try....................

http://www.hddrecovery.com.au/downloads/200ways.pdf

[shawners]

I heard about the PC freezing up but doing it on purpose is krazy.

[axlman]

What brand of drive do you have? Is it a Western Digital? If so, you can go to WD's site an download a daignostic tool that well stress test (without harming) your drive and give you a error code if the diags find any issues.

If it's a Maxtor, then from my own experience, you wasted your money!

[cpugeniusmv]

What brand of drive do you have? Is it a Western Digital? If so, you can go to WD's site an download a daignostic tool that well stress test (without harming) your drive and give you a error code if the diags find any issues.

If it's a Maxtor, then from my own experience, you wasted your money!
Maxtor has a similar tool available on their website.

In my experience, everyone has different experiences.

[The Hunter]

That would make an interesting thread. Feedback on the service you have, or have not got from your drives. They are something we all use, and what about the new flash drives, heck you can probably install a linux live cd on them, and carry an os around with you.

[black_magiic]

What brand of drive do you have? Is it a Western Digital? If so, you can go to WD's site an download a daignostic tool that well stress test (without harming) your drive and give you a error code if the diags find any issues.

If it's a Maxtor, then from my own experience, you wasted your money!
I wouldn't say its wasted. My drive died and they sent me a new one. Sure they don't have the best record for drives lasting but atleast you get replacements that will hopefully work better.

[WE_DELIVER]

I have recently been having very bad luck with WD. In the past 6 months about 4 or 5 drives failed at my work. Any one else noticed a decline in quality with WD drives, or am I just having bad luck.

BTW, there are programs out there that will monitor the S.M.A.R.T. stats of your drive, and some can predict failures. It's pretty convinient, even if u cant read/understand the parameters some of the apps will give you, its worth it just for the simple temperature readout of each of the drives.

I just upgraded my work computer, and threw in a 300 Gig drive between the two I had installed prior. To my surprise, even though there was a fan blowing air directly on the three drives, each had its temp go up by 15 to 20 degrees. So I took that drive out, and mounted it in a 5.25 bay with some brackets, and the temps are looking good. Had I not had a program that was reading the temps, I could have had a dead drive or two on my hands.

Active S.M.A.R.T. and HDDLife are two programs that I tried out and liked.
If there are more that are out there that are worth it, let a brotha know!

[The Hunter]

My local tec has dropped them from all the warranty work. Too many failures according to him. He is now selling Maxtor, sygate, and I believe samsung.

[WE_DELIVER]

There u go...WD used to be my favorite. I started going for Seagates(we just bought two 300s and two 200s) and Hitachi(Got that for an external enclosure). The Hitachi is surprisingly quiet, cool running, and pretty fast.

[The Hunter]

I used to install my D drives in the pc, but i have taken using removable bays. I like having the extra fan cooling the drive, the ability to be able to change what you are sharing quickly is great, and its a handy way for me to test someones drive for problems. Note I have seen some drives get dumped when there was nothing wrong with them when using a bay. A lot of tecs dont have a clue about actually diagnosing a problem. If you are using a bay, and the drive appears to croak, dont panic. Is the light on for the bay? If it is, then try hooking the drive up as you would for a standard D drive, bypassing the bay. Often it is caused by a shitty solder job. ( Cold solder joint)

[mojo-ris-in]

Yeah Cpu is right sometime the platter of the hard drive can stick. Putting them in the freezer can sometimes unstick the platters.

If it works I would still back up the drive ASAP.

[Mels_Smileys45]

Sticking them in the microwave is awesome too.

[mojo-ris-in]

Sticking them in the microwave is awesome too.

Lol I DON'T reccomend that....

[Lehk]

There u go...WD used to be my favorite. I started going for Seagates(we just bought two 300s and two 200s) and Hitachi(Got that for an external enclosure). The Hitachi is surprisingly quiet, cool running, and pretty fast.

I haven't had trouble with WD, got a 100 and a 200 gig in my machine right now probably not properly cooled but they have been working flawlessly since i got them

[The Hunter]

Thats what i mean, think about it folks is this worth a seperate thread

[shawners]

Sticking them in the microwave is awesome too.
would it void the warranty?

[Auggie2k]

Well I didn't bother with the freezer trick because somehow I found the receipt. It's a Maxtor alright so I'm going to bring it back to the shop as soon as I can. I rang them up and they "say" it's still under warrenty. Well let's hope so. Thanks for the feedback guys.

[Mels_Smileys45]

MY hard drive goes CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, Giggity, Giggity, Giggity, Giggity Goo.

Is that bad?

[Auggie2k]

Sounds like he's singing. All in all sounds ok :icon_prof

[Sephiroth]

MY hard drive goes CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, Giggity, Giggity, Giggity, Giggity Goo.

Is that bad?

Is the clicking loud? does it take a long time to access data on the disc? If yes to both then it will probably go sooner or later.