Hard Drive Clicking. Need Second Opionion Please!!

Hello all, first time poster to Notebook Review!
I've posted my laptop specs to my profile, so you should be able to see em there.
Okay, my problem is that the hard drive makes a VERY loud clicking sound every 4-10 minutes no matter what I do. I've contacted Acer and they told me it would take 10-14 days plus shipping both ways (which I would have to pay for) to fix it under warranty.
I've tried looking up any sort of Free Fall technologies, whatever they might be named. What I found out is that I have a Seagate Momentus HDD inside my machine. Is there anything I can do about the hard drive myself (i.e. disabling the Free Fall) or do I just send it in?

Now that I've explained the problem, I'll explain why I'm not willing to send it in.
I am a full-time college student (18 credit hours!) so needless to say, I NEED this laptop! Which is why I am very hesitant to part with it.
It hasn't been out of the house in the 6 weeks I've had it. It's been on a desk. (I've checked the desk for level, and it checks out A-OK).

Any insight is GREATLY appreciated! And thank you in advance to any and all posters!

 

If it clicks loudly as you say, chances are that it's a dying hard drive and unfixable. If you still have warranty, they should replace it for free (call again and see). You may want to back up your important files first, but if you had to pay shipping both ways, it would be better to invest in a new hard drive and some cloning software. If you did send it in, they would most likely format the entire drive and reinstall Windows to see if it works and if not, replace the drive with a new one.

 

yea that's what i thought...darn thought i could fix it myself. oh well. guess i'll do it over x-mas break then i guess.
thank you!

 

I had that problem, I just bought a SSD.

 

well, i'm probably getting a refund from NewEgg, so...

anyone have any suggestions??? XD

 

run a hard drive diagnostic first before assuming the drive is faulty. It could be the hard drive is simply parking the heads due to inactivity. Particularly since more and more drives out these days are Green drives which have aggressive power saving features.

 

Had a similar problem with a different laptop brand. We immediately backed it up, and found a 2.5" HDD in one of the local stores on sale, and threw it in there. Honestly, for the cost of the hard drive, I would only make good on the warranty if they were willing to ship me the new, bare drive right away.

If your computer didn't come with install/recovery media on DVD or CD, make sure you create the restore disc(s).

As an additional option, you could probably run the Acronis True Home software (create boot CD) in the free trial mode, create a backup "image" of the current hard drive, pop in a new HDD, and then run the image recovery from the boot CD on the new HDD.

I don't know what you want to do, but there are many options here. The most important step being to get your current data backed up immediately - once the HDD's start to click, it might last another minute, or another couple months.

 

hi there,I had the same problem do a diagnostic on your drive and if the problem persists, like mine was. I spoke to a friend and told me to set the power level to high performance, and..... problem solved.
It's the power saving function on these new laptops. hd just "parking it's heads".
hope this helps.

 

One healthy drive never does clicking sounds .. thats the bottom line .