Has anyone found a solution to the HD screech?

It's been bothering me spontaneously since I've received the laptop. I could be playing an FPS, surfing the web or not even using the computer. Sometimes, I get this alarming beeeeeep that blares out of my HD. Usually it's monotonous, other times it lasts longer and makes several tones. It's really annoying; it can beep at the most random times causing "What the hell was that?" looks across the room. Anyone else suffering from this issue? I would really like to get rid of it

 

Have you tried a different HD? My toshiba drive started doing that regularly before it failed ...

 

Scary, my HD is a Toshiba as well. What capacity was it; do you remember the model name? I don't have any other 2.5" drives to test

 

Concerning HDDs, there is only one way, the safe way.

1. Back up your data immediately! There is nothing like suddenly loosing all your work...
2. Call Dell. HDDs doing that kind of noises have to be dealt with the most extreme caution.

Edit:
On the other hand you mind want to check this thread
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=168425
But there the sound was more clickish than beepish.
In any case I would strongly recommend a data backup before anything else

 

There's a setting in BIOS that you can change to make your hard drive to operate quiet. Press F2 > look for Maintenance or HDD Acoustics mode and change it to QUIET. This will minimize the noise on your hard drive. Normally, hard drive clicks fast because it's running on a high speed up to the point you'll hear it click. This will relate to a failing hard drive if the clicking noise is constant already and your computer is slowing down or getting errors. You can run a diagnostics on your hard drive to test if your hard drive was about to give in, Press FN + Power Button from cold boot.

 

It's been like that since I've got it. Been beepin' for a whole year

This sound doesn't have anything to do with the HD clicking, it's probably the most silent HD I've ever worked with. It's actual beeping that either comes from the HD or the motherboard. I'll try that diagnostic test.

 

OP, I know exactly the sound you are talking about.

My HD has a constant high pitch whine that I can hear, but occassionally it will make a very loud whine like you are describing. Do you also hear the constant whine I am talking about? It might just be that my hearing can still pick up high pitch noises (I have tested myself up to 18000 Hz) but the noise is there. My hard drive also clicks every five minutes or so when idle which I am not happy about either (since this only started happen a couple of months ago). Fortunately, I have all my data backed up.

 

Well, I ran the diagnostics and everything came out perfectly clean. The beeps seem to appear more commonly though now compared to when I first got my laptop and still spook me every time..