Alienware M11x Problem: Clicking Noise

I just purchased an Alienware M11x R1 this week. I'v had it for less than 3 days and I've noticed a clicking noise coming from the machine. It happens every couple of minutes and sounds like it is coming from the right corner, right of the touchpad. Does anyone know what that is and if I can get it to go away? Its not a loud noise. I thought it was the fan and it could be but the larger fan with the blue lights appears to be working fine. It makes noise rarely and spins but does not click. I think this is a small fan or a hard drive or something else.

I do not like that noise and would return it if it doesn't go away. I think its unacceptable for a new laptop to make a sound like that.

This is not my first Dell machine. I've had the larger 17" dell alienware laptop, a couple Dell Minis, and a number of other Dell laptops from work as well and I've been generally happy with their equipment but this is not good.

 

The right front corner is where the hard drive is I think, and a clicking sound is usually a sign that a hard drive is about to die. Does it sound like one of these http://www.thenetworkadministrator.com/crashingharddrive.htm or this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a9/WD_bad_heads_click_of_death.ogg ? Those are the screams of dying hard drives. If it is, you'll need to send it in for a new hard drive because there's no fixing it.

 

Its barely audible but annoying. It doesn't sound like any of those clips, those are much louder. Its just a click sound every couple of minutes.

 

I received my m11xr2 today, and about 12hrs later i noticed a clicking noise right of the touch pad. The time between clicking noises vary, sometimes only a few seconds to maybe 30 seconds. It isn't that loud either. I asked my bro about it and he said that it's fine. Oh well, I guess if something goes wrong i'll just have Dell send me a replacement.

 

5400rpm? faster HD tend to be noiser.

 

Seagate Momentus HDD? A lot of M11x users are experiencing these problems including me. There was a driver released last year to resolve the problem but I think it's pre-installed in the M11x. I doubt it's something that'll damage your HDD.

 

I just got my r1 last week too and I'm experiencing the same clicking noise. I was worried the drive was going bad too but my ubuntu usb drive didn't find anything when I booted into it and mounted the drive.

My drive is the 160gb 5400.

 

Entirely normal. There was a thread a few weeks ago in which most users attested to being able to hear ticking sounds emanating from the HDD.