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    HD squeak = future hd death?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Solex, Feb 16, 2008.

  1. Solex

    Solex Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've now had this happen 3 times to me over the course of 2 months the last 2 happening in 2 weeks. On the spinup of my HD, I get a very loud mechanical squeak sound from my HD. This isn't happening at boot but after my HD is spun down.

    I'm pretty sure on my M1330 this is coming from my HD (from front left of my laptop) and that it is not an electrical squeak. My question is that does this indicate that my HD is going to fail in the future and should I be hitting up Dell to get a replacement HD.

    The frequency of the squeak is very intermittent and I'm not able to reproduce it on demand.
     
    Solex, Feb 16, 2008
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  2. HI DesertNM

    HI DesertNM Notebook Deity

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    Most likely its on its way out. Its hard to say when it will fail but in my experiences, any noises like that from HD's is not good. I have had drives make noise for as much as a few years and then boom.. there gone in an instant. I think I have had several WD and 3 IBM drives.. all fail. But since I switched to seagate, so far so good. I am glad I ended up with a seagate with my HP notebook. From what I hear, the quieter the drive when new, the longer it generally lasts. Seagates are no doubt some of the quietest on the market.

    Just make sure you keep your important stuff backed up on a regular basis. The fact that it is intermittent and random really points at the HD. Like I said from my own experiences, this has always meant a total HD failure at some point. The noise basically is telling you there is abnormal friction somewhere on the drive.
     
    HI DesertNM, Feb 16, 2008
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  3. Solex

    Solex Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ugh ,I guess I may need to upgrade my HD sooner than later then. Will dell ship me just a HD instead of requiring me to send my whole system? I'm not very eager to reinstall all my programs so I may upgrade and clone my HD now.
     
    Solex, Feb 16, 2008
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  4. millermagic

    millermagic Rockin the pinktop

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    My HD only does that when I have to hold the power button to turn off the laptop
     
    millermagic, Feb 17, 2008
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  5. TrisTan 08

    TrisTan 08 Notebook Consultant

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    wow is that the harddrive lol?
     
    TrisTan 08, Feb 17, 2008
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  6. Solex

    Solex Notebook Enthusiast

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    For me I'm pretty sure it's the HD. It's a very piercing squeak. It's definitely a mechanical and not an electrical noise.

    Now that you mention it, I guess I have heard that noise from my desktop before when I've had to hard power off my system.
     
    Solex, Feb 17, 2008
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