Clicking noise when scrolling in any internet browser

So last night I noticed that my F3JP started making a strange noise whenever I scrolled in either Internet Explorer or Firefox. The best way to describe is is a muted Apple iPod scroll wheel click. I did a google search, and it seems like it is a problem a lot of people report, but I have yet to find a clear answer. It may be tied to 7200RPM Hitachi drives, as that seems to be a common component of people having this problem. The sudden onset of this is what gets me, and I'm trying to figure out if my computers recent trip to ASUS Service Indy (for mainboard and DVD-RW replacement) may be tied to this issue, or if something happened when changing screen resolutions to hook my computer up to my TV using DVI last night. I am going to try and trouble shoot some more, I have a spare HDD and other things to play around with, I'd like to get to the bottom of this and help out everyone else having problems.

-Jeff

References:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...6z8KN4oV557fa7E2g&sig2=hp_imlluTrFb87R4BoZJGQ
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...VMpkVlwZ0T5BnkibQ&sig2=cKUF5_5OVhPqEFdk6AA0FA
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...mWNwvHQKnefljLTqQ&sig2=nBpp8eth7g4qbMi_MdiWVQ

 

If it's clicking upon scroll it's more likely related to CPU than HDD (since scrolling in a browser may lead to spikes of CPU activity, but is not necessarily correlated with HDD activity).

 

Judging by the area of the computer it's coming from, I think it has to be the HDD, or maybe an issue with the GPU. It definitely has the mechanical sound of a hard drive to it. The other thing I'm wondering is it it's some sort of bad mainboard ground.

EDIT: It seems that the noise goes away when the computer is running off of the battery (unplugged). Does this help at all?

 

Bump for help. It might be a CPU noise, but why all of a sudden?

 

Have you tried formatting your hard drive and reinstall your OS?

 

I had similar but dont know if same. first make sure its HD. Its either HD or speaker. (apologies if thats obvious). I wanna say I doubt its HD but I could be wrong. if speaker its no big deal. keep googlin you'll find something. does it do it when scrolling local folders? try differnt browser. reformatting hd and reinstalling OS is always last resort and even then is way overkill of many software problems. CPU makes no noise ever. think about it. only things in computers that make noise are moving parts (mostly drives and fans) and speakers.

 

Any browser, windows explorer, adobe acrobat, all make the same noise. It's definitely not the speaker. I'm going to swap the hard drive out for a spare, but I think it's a software trigger, so the install of Windows on the other HD might fix it regardless. I'm doing a clean install of Vista Ultimate in a few weeks, might have to just wait until then.

 

I once had this same problem years ago - but I think it was on a desktop with CRT monitor so not sure if it is related. It only happened on screens with white backgrounds, i.e. commonly in IE, Acrobat, windows explorer, etc. Maybe try to see if it still happens if you use IE with a dark background.

I could not work out what was causing the noise, but I did not think it was hard drive nor CPU, I thought it may have been power related as it sounded like it was coming from the monitor (and due to only happening with large white backgrounds). Also, the fact that the noise is said to go away above when running on battery may lend support to this theory.

 

One person online claimed to solve the problem by either updating their video card drivers or changing the refresh rate on their monitor, so you may be on the right track. Unfortunately I have tried reinstalling the drivers on my lappy with no luck, and the refresh is fixed at 60 Hz.