A ticking noise followed by freeze

Hi all!

Just around three weeks ago, my PC developed this problem where there was a ticking noise from inside the system, followed by the whole system freezing. Initially the system froze momentarily, but later onwards it became more and more permanent. We took it to the repairman and he fixed it, saying that there was a "corrupt file" in the system. No such problems emerged after that.

Two weeks later I heard a faint ticking noise, but the freeze was permanent, and it came while I was watching a YouTube video. After the freeze ended, a notification came up from Chrome saying that Shockwave had become unresponsive. I didn't take that much notice of it then...

Then around a week later, the same old problem came up, and this time, it became permanent as well. The repairman is puzzled and refutes my idea that it's because the HDD is going for a six. He still thinks that the old corrupt file problem is to blame.

Can anyone enlighten me how this ticking-noise-followed-by-progressively-permanent-freeze-up problem can be explained. Is there more than one reason? Is there any reason other than the corrupt file and HDD break-up?

Thanks!

UdAkDev said:

Hi all!

Just around three weeks ago, my PC developed this problem where there was a ticking noise from inside the system, followed by the whole system freezing. Initially the system froze momentarily, but later onwards it became more and more permanent. We took it to the repairman and he fixed it, saying that there was a "corrupt file" in the system. No such problems emerged after that.

Two weeks later I heard a faint ticking noise, but the freeze was permanent, and it came while I was watching a YouTube video. After the freeze ended, a notification came up from Chrome saying that Shockwave had become unresponsive. I didn't take that much notice of it then...

Then around a week later, the same old problem came up, and this time, it became permanent as well. The repairman is puzzled and refutes my idea that it's because the HDD is going for a six. He still thinks that the old corrupt file problem is to blame.

Can anyone enlighten me how this ticking-noise-followed-by-progressively-permanent-freeze-up problem can be explained. Is there more than one reason? Is there any reason other than the corrupt file and HDD break-up?

Thanks!

Run Puppy Linux from a pendrive Lucid Puppy way to recover files from a non-bootable computer and check whether your drive is accessible. If accessible backup all that you want to to another external drive.

After that run the diagnostic tool provided by the manufacturer of your HDD.
Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

The problem is that the ticking noise sometimes doesn't come days on end, when suddenly it comes for no apparent reason. Can there be ANY other reason for this irregular occurence? A corrupt file or loose cord connection, or even related to the motherboard?

This problem's been bugging me, and I'm frustrated because I can't find any problem. If the problem was found, case solved. This computer hasn't been used even for a year, and hence I can even take advantage of the one-year warranty.

Thanks for your comments guys! Really appreciate it, but I really need to know what other POSSIBLE and PLAUSIBLE reason the ticking noise can be accounted for.

PS: Just in case I HAVE backup files as a contingency.

Nope. It's definitely NOT Hard Disk failure! Other possible options - keyboard & mouse cords, scanner & printer ports, and the ethernet cord connected to my CPU PCI ethernet slot. I've tried on the PC for two sessions of 6 hours while having a new keyboard and not being connected to the scanner and keyboard. Played each time while applying some pressure, i.e. by playing a high graphics game and watching some movies, and the problem hasn't surfaced! I have a suspicion it maybe due to the ethernet cable/PCI slot where I plug it in. What do you guys think? That a freeze-up can be caused by the ethernet? Also, what about the keyboard slot?

We did run a test at the repairman's place. And the answer came back negative for failure.

Well he ran the HDD test. Results were negative. And the problem regarding the corrupt file emerged the first time around. Problems after the first repairs were not due to the file issue. Neither was it due to the HDD. So we rule that out now...