Cannondaleriders

Fans and hardrive noises are nothing alike IMO. Im not saying fans dont make noises, but it usually doesnt sound anything like your hard disk. I see more likeness in optical drives making noises similar to fans than I do your HDD. Just my extra .02

I know Krmit is a computer guru and works on them for a living and CptHook appears to know alot about them also.....but I still like my diagnosis technique.......whack on the side!!

Very true. A fan going out will normally make a consistent whirring noise where a failing HDD will make clicking or grinding noises intermittently.


This sounds more like a fan going out than a HDD. Also, usually your PC will halt if your HDD is making noise as it is unable to read data. I don't think you'd be able to hear a bearing in the HDD going out, and if one did go out it would more than likely kill the HDD immediately.

...such is my experience anyhow. :hammer:

I wouldn't consider myself a guru, especially since I'm not even Indian.

I've exercised your technique many times, but not attempting to fix a PC. :comp:

Reminds me of a funny story one of my computer professors told me about. I guess one of his students a long time ago was having some issues with his lab pc and he was getting really frusterated with it, so finally one day he came in sat down, pulled a pistol out of his pocket and set it down on the desk in front of his PC, and said something to the extent of "ok you piece of *expletive*, its just you and me now..." and proceeded to start his exam. Needless to say he was removed quickly, but I thought it was a pretty interesting story anyways. Kinda Sketchy

That's a good one.

I had some old clunkers in my storage I was thinking I might do something with. After taking a good look at them I found a good use. I took out years of computer frustration on those things. It's fun to see how high you can toss one and watch it explode on impact. You'd be surprised how much damage the older cases can take.