Unusual sounds

Hi, I hope this is the correct forum to post this thread. Ok I have an EMachines 220 Desktop PC, its approx: 18 months old. I put an extra mem card init, a bigger HD and also a dvd writer all compatible, it is currently running Windows XP.

My origional HD was 40GB i left this as the master drive until recently because it was running too slow, so I now have my 120GB HD as the master.
The tower is currently making an awful scratching sound when I open files\folders or have a CD in one of the drives, It has only done this once before when my 40GB HD was master, I just rebooted my pc and all was fine.
Today I have Vacuumed the dust out of the tower to see if it helps but it hasnt.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to what it might be? I hope I have give enough information.

TIA Leigh

Hi Leigh_250, welcome to Virtual Dr :)

See if the noise that you are hearing sounds like one of these:

Noises that indicate a defective drive

If it does, then you'll be able to download a diagnostic utility from the hard drive makers website which you can run from floppy. See what that has to say.

Is the sound coming from the PC tower or from the speakers?
If the speakers check your individual sound settings in control panel if the case use one of the drive test tools in the link below and see if the drive is failing.

Hi, It doesnt sound like any of them off that Hitachi website. It is comming from the tower and not the speakers, Ive noticed also that it is worse when the computer is booting up?
TAIA

OK the next thing to do is take the side off the case and see if you can identify where the noise is coming from. Pay particular attention to the fans. A useful trick is to place the handle of a screwdriver against your ear and the tip against whatever you suspect is making the noise (obviously you need to take care not to short out anything electrical). It is remarkably effective in isolating where a noise is emanating from.

Ok did as you said but without the screwdriver, I loaded a file at the same time as touching the HD I thought it would be and I could feel the noise so to speak!
What next lol

Ive tried the powermax troubleshooter program from the manufacteres website and it doesnt seem to work , ive uninstalled and reinstalled the HD and the sound is still there?
Has anyone got anymore suggestions please?
TIA

What happened when you ran Powermax? Here is some help with using it:

http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor/...x_guide_en.pdf

Noisy drives are a bad sign though, make sure that you've got your data backed up if you're certain that the noise is coming from the drive.

Hi Im still not having much luck the noise seems to have quietened down but its still there, i have contacted the manufacturers but had no reply as yet.

I had a reply off the manufacterers they were not much help at all, i ended up partitioning the HD, it still makes the noise but i have given up on it. I now have my 40GB HD as Master, The computer is back to running slow and crashing.
It cant be my mem coz the size is 636????

I might just buy a new one after xmas and skip this one.
Thanx for your help guys.

When I had a loud Maxtor drive I sent it in under warranty and they replaced it. If you go through all their steps for getting an RMA, you'll find one of the options for returns is a noisy drive with no other sypmtoms. I'd give their support people another call.

I agree, an excessively noisy drive ought to be grounds for RMA. That's the problem with emailing those tech support persons, it all depends on the individual that you happen to get :(

thanks guys