Solved Clicking sound from 1 month old hard drive

[jago86]

I bought a Hitachi 500GB HDD (7200rpm) just over a month ago (29/08/12)
This morning I turned on my computer and it started normally (booted in 25.6s)

I had some tabs opened in Opera then I heard this clicking noise from the hard drive, my computer started to move slowly and I shut it down for a few minutes and then turned it back on.

It started to stick/move slowly and didn't get passed loading Windows. I turned it off again and waited a while and turned it back on again and it's working fine and no clicks.

I ran HD Tune to diagnose the problem further and Error Scan said it had no problems.

However, I saw this in the Health tab -
Health Status - Warning
Re-Allocated Sector Count and Re-Allocated Event Count both say warning as well.

I live in Trinidad (Caribbean) so the average temperature is 33*c but my house is air conditioned, could the fluctuation in temperature (when the a/c is not on) be a cause?

There have been frequent power outages recently and the computer wasn't shut down properly the times it happened. Could a bad/failing PSU be the cause of this? I have another 500GB (Seagate 7200rpm) which I also run but disconnected since to isolate the problem.

Also, I downloaded a 40GB file over the period of a week and left computer on for that time. I mostly do word processing, watch movies, play games, download and stream videos.

Windows 8 x64
8GB RAM
AMD Phenom II 965 X4
GTX 550 Ti 1GB

 

[marsmimar]

It's not unheard of for even a brand new hard drive to fail. Err on the side of caution and backup the drive in case you have to replace it. I'd then use one of the free diagnostics tools to check the Hitachi.

https://www1.hgst.com/hdd/technolo/dft/dftnew.htm

Downloads | Seagate (SeaTools for Windows - works on non-Seagate drives)

If it passes the test(s) it's possible that some system files became damaged or corrupt during one of those power outages. Run a system file checker scan from an elevated command prompt (option two.) If problems are found, run the scan 3 times and reboot after each scan.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

If problems continue, try this troubleshooting tutorial prepared by one of the Forum experts. It's time consuming but has helped many isolate computer problems.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/220165-troubleshooting-steps-windows-7-a.html

 

[NeverSayDie]

Hi Jago86

That is often an indication that the hard drive is going bad and the errors will continue to grow until you can no longer use the disk for anything.

Backup all important data from the disk now while you still can and return the disk for a replacement. If they ask, tell them it started clicking, gave SMART warnings and stopped working. That should be enough to get the disk replaced.

It is most likely not the environment unless you physically hit the disk or dropped it. It sounds like a typical bad disk. There are ones that just go bad and it usually happens within the first couple of months of use.

Hope this helps,
James

EDIT: Oops, I posted the same time as Marsmimar. You can try what he says just be sure to back up important files first while you still can. The diagnostic programs can push the drive to failure if it is broken.http://www.sevenforums.com/member.php?u=52246

 

[bobafetthotmail]

When a HDD clicks and does things like that it's unreliable. The cause is usually not you (manufacturing errors are the more common).

I'd personally claim it is broken and ask for a new one, if still under warranty.

 

[jago86]

Hi everyone, thank you all for your responses. My computer has since been operating fine, I haven't heard any clicks or experienced any problems at all. I ran SeaTools but it didn't detect the drive.

The drive is under warranty, so if I run into another problem I will get it replaced.

 

[kbrady1979]

Have you backed up the data on it? If you "wait until you have another problem" you might just find that the drive went tits up and you've lost all your data. Clicking is normally an indication that something screwy is going on inside the drive. It's a warning shot if you want to look at it like that.........an indication that the next time it has a problem, it might never work again. Back up your stuff as soon as you can, you'll be glad you did if/when it goes down.