Strange computer noise

ARGHHHHHHHH!!!

What next!

Okay, FWIW, here's some info on the Dell power supply thing:
www.endpcnoise.com...

I may be confused but why am I even thinking of replacing the power supply?

Where are these other fans? I swear I looked and I seen only one thing big enough to be a fan

Dtom,

One way to know if it's a fan is monitor computer temps:case, motherboard and cpu as well as videocard temps.

If they jump when you hear noise.....

The reason i bring this up is if cpu fan is sticking or dieing, you could lose your cpu to overheating.

As far as the harddrive, usually, if it is going to fail or in theprocess of failing it will make gravely noices, like sand got onto spining platers.
If you heat THAT noise, don't reboot, save everything you can, because you drive is going to completly die soon.

If you cannot ascertain where the noise is coming from then I would suggest that you take it to a local computer shop and if they give you a free estimate tell you what he problem is and how much it will cost. It may be easier then doing it yourself.



Pie

Thanks, all.
Pieman, I really think it's the fan. Sorta.
And, I haven't heard that loud noise again.

Probably couldn't hurt to order that fan and have it around.

I may be confused but why am I even thinking of replacing the power supply?

Cuz it has a built in large fan capable of making that loud noise.

Where are these other fans? I swear I looked and I seen only one thing big enough to be a fan

One is built into the power supply. One is under the green shroud. I dont think you have a video card fan.

OMG, makeitso, I had no idea the power supply also had a fan inside
Thanks so much. No wonder I was so confused.
Considering they are so close, it will be hard to decide which is the problem.
But, I do know the shrouded one gets cleaned on a regular basis. And, it is the one that runs loud when it's dirty, so I know that noise.


Thanks for that clarification

DTOM, still would'nt hurt to back up everything periodically, just in case it is the hard drive.

Mechanic 32.

IMHO - The noise will come back. Hopefully it will not lead to anything disasterous. Keep us posted....

[edit on 4/11/2006 by Mechanic 32]

mechanic, .
This whole thing kinda made me aware how vulnerable my files, info, etc. is.
I have a PC that is at least 4 yo.
I have no real backup, other than some CDs for files.

I have been advised to get another internal hard drive and clone my current hard drive.
I plan on then using my current C drive as my backup.

Do you agree?
What would you recommend for a good hard drive. My needs are not great, I don't do music or video files.

I have both seagate, and maxtor drives.

Both are good quality, have'nt had any trouble with either!

As for specifics, I don't have the specs available off-hand, but I could fetch them, I think.

But yeah, always try to have an extra hard drive available. They're not very expensive, considering all that they do.

on second thought, I did have some trouble with a 200 gB drive from seagate. I think the bigger the hd, the more prone to errors, and malfunctions. I usually stick with 80 GB hd's for my boot drive.

For add'l. storage, almost anything is good. The second drive in a computer does'nt take the punishment that the boot drive does, imo.

[edit on 4/11/2006 by Mechanic 32]

I would go with a seagate 80gb For a new boot hd. both seagate and maxtor have software included, to clone your existing hd, as long as it is smaller, or same size.

btw - what size is your current hd?

[edit on 4/11/2006 by Mechanic 32]

Thanks for that info.
I have heard bad things about Maxtor, well at least, the tech forum I visit seems to not like them.
Do you know anything about 80 gig Western Digital?

Actually, 80 is almost too big for my needs, but considering the cost, diff btwn a 40 and 80, I might as well do the 80.

What do you recommend for the cloning? I don't want to spend a bunch of $$ on it and DO NOT want Norton near my PC

read my previous post

I say seagate, it's one of the less expensive.

DTOM,

Everyone has there favorite/pet brand of various harware. I, for one, have yet to experience a physical failure with a Maxtor drive. Currently using 4 of them 2-120Gb, 1-160Gb and a 300Gb (two separate machines)

As for the other brands I have to say that while performing replacements and upgrades of client's systems I tend to see more failures from certain models of Western Digital and Seagate. If/when replacement is needed I always replace with Maxtor. IMO they're like the Timex of hard drives.

As for cloning your existing drive, like Mechanic 32 mentioned, both Seagate and Maxtor come with an installation disk that will copy the existing partition from your current drive to the new drive. It takes awhile depending on the size of the partition, but it works well.

$.02

[edit: "e" to "a" in partition]

[edit on 4/11/2006 by 12m8keall2c]

Originally posted by Mechanic 32
read my previous post

I say seagate, it's one of the less expensive.

I "guess" It's 1.8ghz? That the appropriate number from my computer properties?
I told you guys I don't know a lot about my PC

So, okay, it's got the disc to clone the C drive. I totally missed that :shk:
How do you then go about backing up the new hard drive?
How do you know which one is the default and which is the backup?
I am totally in the dark here. Is it like a printer and you designate a default?

The one thing about Seagate that I don't understand is that they are still on the older ATA100 rather then the ATA133 format with their hard drives.

If anything make sure that you get a minimum of 7200rpm for the spin speed at least and ATA100 or better. Maxtors are fast but I've had a lot of returns on those. Seagate has a 5yr warranty so thats also a good thing.

Here is a good deal on a 120GB for 64.00 and it has a 8MB cache, 7200rpm and ATA100 8.9ms access time only a 1yr warranty tho. With 80GB going for about 55.00 its not a bad deal for an extra 60GB for 9.00 more

www.newegg.com...

Pie

not sure if someone said this, got lazy on reading, but old hard drives have a tendecy to make tons of wierd noises as they age. ive never heard a fan making wierd noises, usually just go out completely(from my own experience)



wouldnt a dell turn off if it was over heating?

[edit on 13-4-2006 by Collapsed Mind]

I don't know if it turns off, but from what I read in the Dell users forum, I think the Dell fan sends an error message if it isn't working.

Well, I'm planning on seeing what it looks like inside, to see where the new hard drive will go, then decide which HD to buy.
Thanks to all for the info on what I need etc.

I still have a question or two:

1. Is one drive the default? How do you decide that? Since I've not had this experience, I'm having a hard time figuring out how the PC knows what HD to use

2. How do you do backups to the HD you're not suing?

1. Is one drive the default? How do you decide that? Since I've not had this experience, I'm having a hard time figuring out how the PC knows what HD to use

The terminology is Master HD and slave HD. The master is the default HD the PC uses. The slave is the secondary HD. This decision is made by you physically putting a "jumper" on a specific location of the HD.

The basic block of instructions can be found here with a focus on the section titled Jumper Settings.

You can find more details about jumper settings here.

And these jumper settings and these are directly from Seagate.

2. How do you do backups to the HD you're not suing?

A basic tutorial titled Windows XP Backup Made Easy describes the process of how to back up your important files.

Conversely, if you want to duplicate your existing HD exactly in every detail (clone) , so that you can then use the HD as the master to boot to the Operating System, that software will come with the purchase of most new HD's as previously posted.



Best of Luck

And the saga continues..............

DTOM, keep us all posted!

Every one else, tune in for the next chapter!

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
I have heard bad things about Maxtor, well at least, the tech forum I visit seems to not like them.

If i may add my 2 cents here -

Every one of the major HD companies has a bad run now and then. I've heard horror stories about Maxtor, Seagate, WD, etc - however when an issue is found they do tend to fix it or release a better version of the drive.

Basically what i'm trying to say is don't shop for a drive on brand name alone. Go with what you can afford. If you have a problem, return the drive and get a new one.