Solved Swirl and Clicking sounds

[cyberbuzz]

Hey all! Just wondering if anyone can tell me, or know what this is. My computer every now and then makes a swirling sound and right after there's a clicking sound which usually happen when you access the recycling bin or the curtain drive in my computer. I have even noticed these sound happen during watching a dvd. I have took my pc in to the shop a few times and said they have fixed it. Can anyone give some insight on why these sound must persist on happening. I know there coming from the hardrive/s the pc freezes until the swirling & clicking stop.

Thank in advance

 

[unifex]

It's rather logical to assume that any such sound is coming from something that has moving parts. There are two things with moving parts - hard drives and fans. Nothing else creates such noise.

Now, the worst-case scenario - clicking sound coming from your hard drive. This is usually a sign of impending failure. If I were you, I would back up all important data immediately and start looking for a new hard drive. I would back up even if I were not sure about this being a hard drive problem.

Swirling sounds can come from dirty fans. My guess is, your computer shop basically just cleaned your fans (maybe). You can do it yourself, just do not remove the heatsink from the CPU, then you'll have to deal with the thermal paste, nothing you want to get in to, I suppose.

So, my advice is this: back up your data immediately and try to clean the dust from inside the PC. After that, you can troubleshoot your problem by removing (unplugging) components one by one. If you have only one hard drive, then you can use a Live CD to boot up your PC even with hard drive unplugged - your purpose would be to listen to the fan noise and try to decide whether your problem is fans or hard drive.

 

[fafhrd]

Could it be a sound theme? :

Start, control panel, sound, sounds tab, sound scheme, note what the current scheme is, and then select no sounds from the drop down list.

If the 'swirl click' goes, that's what it was. replace with a sound scheme of your choice (or not)

 

[unifex]

Well, it's very easy to check for the sound scheme - just turn off the speakers and see if the sounds disappear. However, if the sounds come from the sound scheme, then the PC should not freeze while playing them. If that's nevertheless the case then you need to look closely at your sound card and the related drivers.

 

[cyberbuzz]

How did sound scheme get involved? lol! The swirling sound and clicking comes from the tower not the speakers.

 

[unifex]

How did sound scheme get involved? lol! The swirling sound and clicking comes from the tower not the speakers.

Well, that was just a suggestion fafhrd made. And indeed some sound schemes can be described as "swirling" and "clicking". But as I said above, if this does not seem to be your problem, then backing up, cleaning and further troubleshooting is in order (see my post #2 above).

 

[fafhrd]

I only suggested it because the stereo output/dsp on one of my systems did exactly that - made the fairly low system sounds that had been installed with the display theme appear to come from elsewhere in the room - it was really quite eerie.

 

[Hopalong X]

Download the test tool from Seagate here.
SeaTools for Windows | Seagate

Also download and save the pdf file instructions at the bottom of the above page so you know how to use the tool.
Your HD may be going bad.

Mike

 

[patio]

I'd suspect a fan....and when the heat goes up it causes the freeze...

 

[TVeblen]

There are two things with moving parts - hard drives and fans. Nothing else creates such noise.

Don't forget: CD/DVD drive.

It would be great to get a better description of "whirring noise".

 

[unifex]

There are two things with moving parts - hard drives and fans. Nothing else creates such noise.

Don't forget: CD/DVD drive.

It would be great to get a better description of "whirring noise".

If I knew how to define sounds with words I would suggest it .

I got the impression from the first post of the OP that the sounds appear without a CD or DVD in, based on his statement that he gets these sounds "even while watching the DVD". Naturally, if there is some disk in the DVD drive all the time, then it would produce all kinds of sounds and may also lead to short-term freezing (it always amazes me how programs such as Nero freeze when a disk is inserted into a DVD drive). Although clicking sounds are usually unique to failing hard drives. To be more precise, failing hard drives often produce very distinct clicking sounds. Whether these are the sounds that the OP is hearing, I can not tell.

 

[cyberbuzz]

Thanks all for your help I wish I could upload the sound it make cause this would really help! Does anyone know how I can upload a mp3 file to this forum?

Thanks again

 

[fafhrd]

You could zip the file and attach it, just like any other attachment, just use the advanced reply options

 

[cyberbuzz]

Good thinking fafhrd here it is. These sounds happen also when the computer is sitting idle. Like I said when I took it in for this problem I told them the sounds that my pc makes and they tell me it was fixed, but I know that they were not doing there job.

 

[Mike Connor]

The "whirring" is a disc drive accelerating up to operating speed, and the "clicking" is disc head movements. ( The stepper motor moves the heads from park positions to the desired tracks). This is more pronounced on some drives than on others. Some Seagate drives were very loud indeed.

If you change your power plan the disc wont go to sleep and you wont hear the sounds anymore.

Otherwise, take the cocktail stick out of your glass before you swirl it!

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[cyberbuzz]

Thanks Mike I will try this out and reply back.

Thanks again

 

[Mike Connor]

Thanks Mike I will try this out and reply back.

Thanks again

My pleasure.

This is perfectly normal by the way, and no cause for concern. Although as I wrote, some drives are much louder than others. A lot depends on drive construction.

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[TVeblen]

Has a lot to do with your computer case too. "Quiet" cases have hard drive mounts with rubber bushings or plastic spacers that deaden the vibrations from the drives and reduce the sound they make.

Some cases amplify the sounds like an echo chamber!

 

[cyberbuzz]

Well Mike it sound like that fixed the problem "Cross Fingers" Hasn't made that noise yet since I set never put hard drive to sleep.

 

[Mike Connor]

Well Mike it sound like that fixed the problem "Cross Fingers" Hasn't made that noise yet since I set never put hard drive to sleep.

Of course that means that you use a little more power to keep the disc running, and there theoretically is more disc spindle/bearing wear, but this can usually be ignored. Doesn't seem to make a lot of difference to the MTBF ( Mean Time Between Failures) of newer discs. Indeed, I think the powering down itself causes more problems than leaving them running.

Also, if you start to get a lot of clicking noises, defragment the disc. The clicking noise is a result of head movement, and on a fragmented disc you tend to get excessive head movement as the heads have to move all over the place to find sectors.

Regards....Mike Connor