My hard drive is squealing...

This only happens when I tilt the laptop: I get a wierd squeak/whizzing noise. When it stops moving it's fine though. Is this normal? Am I damaging my HD when I tilt it?

 

If you are sure it's your hard drive and not the system fan or something, then I would be very careful. Backup any important files and get Dell to replace the hard drive.

 

It sounds like your HDD might be loose. If you turn the notebook upside down, you should see two screws near the location of your HDD. Remove those screws pull out the HDD and then put it back it in. Replace the screws.

This is basically reseating your HDD, a common thing that is done with cd/dvd drives.

If that doesn't fix the problem, then definately call dell. You shouldn't be hearing any kind of squealing.

 

Well, it's a low whirring sound, but it goes away and nothing happens on screen. When the laptop is still I hear nothing. I didn't think I'd have to replace the hd....Is there anything else that can be causing this (besides the hd)?

 

The only thing I can think of is if something is hitting the HDD. That's why I suggested reseating it. You're not replacing it and you won't lose any data. You just need to make sure that it is in there nice and tight.

SG

 

yeah, I know. Already tried taking out the hard drive and putting it back in. Same thing happens. I usually back up my data anyway, so I guess I'll wait till something major happens before a replacement. i really don't want to reinstall everything.With a 2 yr warranty, i'm in no rush.

 

From the way you're describing the problem, it almost sounds like the HD platters on the inside of the HD are banging against each other. I would backup all of your valuable data as others have stated, and report the situation to Dell.

 

I would get it fixed now. Obviously the problem isn't going to go away, and chances are that in a few weeks or might be sooner depending on how bad it is, you are getting to get a "No Operating System Detected Error" and you'll lose anything that you don't have backed up. Plus you might get the error at a really bad time. Just my advice - get it done now while you still can access your HDD.

 

You could also test to see if its actually something mechanical inside the hard drive by setting your power options to turn off the hard disk and then tipping your laptop or whatever you do to make it squeak/whir.

To do this:
1. Make sure all programs are closed, so that nothing is accessing the hard disk
2. Right click on your desktop and click PROPERTIES
3. Click on the screen saver tab
4. Click the Power... button
5. Make sure you are on the " Power Schemes" tab and then pick the power scheme you will be using
6. Then go to the " Turn off hard disks" drop down list box
7. Select whatever the lowest option is, probably "After 3 minutes"
8. Click Save, Apply, and OK
9. Listen carefully for your hard drive to click off and spin down
10. Test your theory

Make sure to reset everything you changed in the "Power Options Properties" window if you don't want to continue with those settings.

Let us know what happens!

 

Run a disk error check just to be sure your hd is in good order.

 

Looks like you folks scared me into it; replacement on the way.

 

LOL, sorry we didn't mean to scare you into it. We just didn't want you to have the problems that many of us have faced.

I faced a dead HDD last week. It happens to all of us at one time or another.

 

yeah; i know. Just kind of annoying that I set everything up and now I gotta do it all over again.

 

Hard drive failures are pretty much the worst problem you can have with computers because everything you do is stored on that precious piece of metal with spinning platters. One day these fragile, mechanical pieces of junk will be replaced with something less vulnerable.