HDD "clicking noise"

[Frikster]

YouTube - HDD "clicking" noise.3gp

hello

http://www.sevenforums.com/software/132411-weird-problem-freezing.html
i posted here but that was software related and i fixed it so i ask now here about the problem that i encountered now :|

the youtube link is a video i just recorded
my hard drive started making that noise yesterday when i deleted avast from my pc and installed system mechanic . after the install i had to restart the PC , it booted to desktop and there was nothing on it , just the wallpaper
after second hard restart i got the message no boot device .. like on the video

pls help tnx


note : sorry if i missed the sub section but i think this kind of problem goes here

edit : disregard my last post in the thread "weird problem with freezing "

 

[roban]

A clicking noise usually means 'the click of death' meaning your hard drive is failing.

back up what you need immediately if you still can.

 

[jfar]

Try this and see if it helps come back and tell us what it says. Clicking noise is not a good sign.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html?ltr=S

 

[Frikster]

how can i open the cmd if i cant even boot to bios ?

and yea i read about the click of death .. wish now i made a backup of everything .. -.-

 

[pebbly]

Frikster, do you have another HDD you can try ?

 

[Frikster]

i have external hard disks , 1 x 2 gb usb and 1 x 1gb usb , laptop im using right now has no cd-rom ( hp mini 101 )
and i got a working cd-rom with burner on it on stand by on 2 other PCs

what are my options

 

[TVeblen]

First, the click of death is caused by stuck heads inside the drive. This is one of the worst problems you can have since the arm of the drive is not functioning properly and therefore cannot read the disks inside. From what you have described that failure is now total.
So disconnect that drive - now. Do not try and boot it or use it. There is a small chance you may be able to recover data, which I'll go into below, but the more you try and use the drive the lower those odds go.

Options:
You can boot into the BIOS without a hard drive connected. Just press DELETE key as you are booting. Most likely your Boot Order is set to: hard drive first. Change that to boot from CD-ROM first. Now you will be able to boot into your Windows 7 installation CD and have access to the repair tools. I'm not saying you can use the tools to repair a dead drive. You could run hard drive diagnostic tools from a CD this way.
But you need the boot order to be CD first to install W7. While in the BIOS turn off any "silent BIOS" settings that hide the BIOS screens while booting. For diagnostics you want to see what is going on.

You could remove the HDD and install it as a secondary drive in another computer - after preparing to recover data - to see if it will spin up and read anything.

If the hard drive is dead you will need a new hard drive.
Buy a new HDD. Install windows clean. Install all the drivers. Install your programs.

Once you've got the new hard drive set up and Windows running you could then attempt to install the old hard drive (I'm assuming all SATA drives here) as a secondary drive and see if it will spin up and read any data that you can copy over to the new drive. If not then you have one FINAL option:

Freezing a HDD. It is reported that this procedure works about 50% of the time to recover data. It is a very limited option. Note: this is a last ditch effort! If the hard drive is not dead now it will be dead-dead-dead after doing this procedure! Only a data recovery company can retrieve any data after this.

Remove the hard drive and put it in a heavy zip-lock bag and put it in the freezer overnight.
Preparation is key. You do not want to waste any time between taking the drive out of the freezer and hooking it up and trying to recover data.
Open the zip lock bag, connect the power and data cables. Start the computer. If the BIOS is set as AHCI you could hot plug the drive.
It may take a few attempts to get the drive to start. If the drive starts up you will only have until it warms up to recover any data - usually 10 to 15 minutes! HAVE A PLAN. Get the important data first (You can lose the cute puppy pics).
When the drive fails again you can try and re-freeze. Sometimes you can repeat the cycle 2 or 3 times before the procedure no longer works and the heads will seize for good.

Please exhaust all other options before trying the freeze method! If you are not comfortable with installing hardware, get help. I you are thinking of using a data recovery company anyway, do that. Freezing the drive could hurt that effort.
Good luck.

 

[mitchell65]

Hi TVeblen
Just read your most informative post. I think the OP will have a problem here as he does not have a CD drive in this laptop! He seems to have an ext. CD drive. Could he use that and choose USB on the boot up menu?

 

[TVeblen]

It is my impression that:

• The problem PC is the desktop described in the OPs My System Specs, which jives with the machine shown in the video.
• He is posting here using the laptop w/o a CD drive.
• And if the problem PC does not have a CD drive he has stated he has 2 available in other machines.

 

[DocBrown]

You might check the condition of your HD with Crystal Disk Info

:ar: Download Center - Crystal Dew World

 

[Apotter]

I suggest you smash open one of your externals, remove the USB to SATA connector and install it as internal, install Win7 and then try the bad drive. I know its not common to smash your external drive but so far everyone does, and i did to all since the USB goes bad to all sooner or later..... All that is if you dont want to spend cash on another hdd or bother friends with testing your drive on their machines.
When i hear the clicking of death, i just toss the drive in the trash. I always di multiple backups of everything

 

[Frikster]

TVeblen tnx for all that information i will start testing step by step and see what i can do

just so we are clear
the "broken" PC is the PC you saw on the video , the spec writen on my profile are the spec of that PC and it has a working cdrom with burner
i have a lot of options at home since i got 3 laptops ( including the small one with no cdrom ) and another much weaker pc i dont use much
i have 120 gb , 80 gb 250,1TRB hard disks that are external , all are usb connected except the 1TRB i dont use this one since mionet software dont support windows 7

im gonna start now with the suggestions

 

[Frikster]

-double thread-

so i removed the HDD , booted to bios and the boot order was set for CD first then HDD

so now i need to buy a new HDD right and then start from scratch ?
after successful reinstall i try the options to see what can be saved from it ?


i opened the HDD , i plugged it in while the cover lid was off
started pc and saw the magic happen
the pin just moved left , right , left , right and just went back to its previous state and nothing after that happens ..
could it be a problem with the magnets ? or the pin ? tomorrow ill take it to a repair shop to get an opinion from them and if i must ill get a new 500 gb HDD for 50euro and mess arround with the one i have now ( if all options are exausted and its proclaimed DEAD :| )

 

[TVeblen]

Yikes! Opening the drive was not a good idea. That is usually done in a clean room with the guys in the space suits! This is because the inside of the drive must be sterile-clean. Any dust or fingerprints will cause read and write errors.

So let us now bow our heads and say goodbye to our good friend the hard drive .
"It's dead, Jim" (Classic Star Trek).

So yes, it's time to buy a new drive and start over. See what the guys at the shop say about getting any data off of the old drive.

Out of curiosity, does it spin? I've never played with one like that. I'm now tempted!
You might try taking a pencil and very gently push on the arm with the eraser end to see if you can get it to move towards the center of the disk. The magnets never "go bad". What happens is the arm gets stuck in the "park" position and will not swing freely. The read heads are only micrometers off the surface of the platters, so you must be very careful touching it or it will scratch the platters and destroy the heads.

 

[Frikster]

ok so .. if that kind of process is done by the man in space suits
HOW my friend has opened so many hard drives in a normal room with normal clothes on with normal tools and the hard drives didnt show any problems ?

and yes the disk does spin , like the CD does in an MP3 player ) it also creates a lot of wind around it
the disk hasnt been touched , no dust can be seen , spots .. nothing . its same as a mirror
and what "arm" ? do u mean the pin arm ? i did push it and it can get to the center , it can do that on its own when i start my pc and windows tries to boot from it

 

[TVeblen]

Fascinating. I have just never dared try it. Maybe it is not as we have been told.

So, with the cover off and hooked up to your computer you can see the "pin" moving across the spinning platter (it should "wag" back and forth)? But it still does not boot? Do you still get the "boot device not found" message?

Have you double checked the SATA cable connections? Tried another cable?

EDIT: Does it still click with the cover off?

 

[Golden]

HOW my friend has opened so many hard drives in a normal room with normal clothes on with normal tools and the hard drives didnt show any problems ?

Wow! Thats risky - he must be very lucky.

 

[Frikster]

yes TVeblem i did all that except changing the sata cable
and yes the pin "wags" and makes the sound
when there is no power and i move the pin on the disk and i flip the device it makes a sound .. a friend ( the one that fixes the HDDs without a space suit ) tells me that shouldnt happen , and if the pin is on normal position ( not on disk ) no sound . and yes i still get the message to insert a boot device
i sent the whole pc in the repair shop and today i get to start from scratch which will suck
after i get all the stuff back ill first make a video of the old device , and how it works

edit : dont try it , i did all that because it was time to get a new HDD anyway because this 120 gb one isnt enough even with all the externals i got and since it is malfunctioning experimenting and feeding my curiosity was then a priority

 

[TVeblen]

Oh I wouldn't do it on a hard drive in a working computer. But I have a small collection of old hard drives and a special computer in my basement that I use just for testing found components and Frankenstein experiments !

Thank you for the info. It helps in trying to diagnose these things. A lot of times we know that a thing happens, but we don't know why it happens.

We have been told for years that the clicking in a dying drive is caused because the "Actuator Arm" was frozen (would not "wag"). That is obviously not true in your case. I would love to know what makes the actual click sound. Can you determine that?

 

[Frikster]

YouTube - spinn

ok so here is a video i recorded
give me your thoughts