Windows 7: HDD sound on laptop

dear sevenforums user....

im using a low-end laptop now... im also using a headset, the laptop is 1 year old... the past 5-6 months whenever im using headset, or it's late at night / pin drop silence, i can kinda hear a clicking sound from my laptop hdd

it's very quiet clicking sound though, i mean. in the afternoon it's not noticeable at all, i just recently realized this issue was also because i couldn't hear it before. I can hear it only when i put my head exactly on the right side of the touchpad (where the hdd is) and at night...

also..,, it doesn't stop at all, regardless of whether i access files, software, browse, watching video, or not doing anything, it still clicking (quietly)

im not that good with IT but i had a coupld external hdd dying on me before so im a little familiar with the loud clicking noise of head parking and bad bearing...

but how about this quiet clicking soun... is that a normal read / write process on a seagate hdd laptop... or.. should i worry abt it...?


please tell me if you guys need the recording of the sound to know... i'll try to record it (but i dont know how you guys have to tell me how to do so)





best regards,

It is normal for a soft 'clicking' sound to come from a mechanical hard drive as it runs. I would describe it as a soft vibrating sound. The volume of this normal sound is a function of the shock absorbing (or sound deadening) mounts on the drive.
You can determine if this is the normal sound by observing the light that flashes to show hard drive activity. If it is pretty much in synch the you would be safe to assume that is all it is.

If it gets louder, or more develops a more constant rhythm then it might be cause for concern. If you have heard that head park click then you know it is pretty distinctive.

I agree with TVeblen, but if you are really worried you can always test the hard drive with Seatools to make sure there isn't a problem.

i've just downloaded seatools, ill come back and posted the result in a moment

No kungfu the others are right mate if it were bad then it would be a definite and really loud clattering sound.

If you want to try some thing else for peace of mind a surface test with Partition Wizard will check the actual disk surface for faults.

Best Free Partition Manager Freeware and free partition magic for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista and Windows XP 32 bit & 64 bit. MiniTool Free Partition Manager Software Home Edition.

the smart test on seatools returned normal

i hvnt had time to do the surface test.. but thanks a lot guys...

I would like to add that I can also hear a very faint clicking come from my laptop hard drive if its night time and no other noises in the house. If there was any serious danger of imminent failure seatools would have picked up. Of course I also recommend keeping regular backups of all your data just in case.