Noisy HDD

So, I've had my laptop for a good 3-4 weeks now and I've noticed that I have constant noise whenever my laptop is in use. The noise is coming from the HDD. It sounds like the HDD is constantly spinning and it's quite annoying, considering everyone I've come across with a Fujitsu HDD says they are very quiet. Mine's a Fujitsu MHV2060AH. I have NHC running with the "Enable Spin Down" function checked and Acoustic Management set to "Quiet". I will admit that every once in a while the HDD will spin down, but if I do anything (click a link, open any program, etc.) the HDD will spin back up.

I'm kind of wondering if it has to do with the Paging File or whatever it's called. NHC reports around 130-200MB of free RAM with AIM, Firefox(several tabs) and perhaps an OpenOffice document open. Also, the Page File Usage in Task Manager is usually around 350-400MB.

If anyone else has had this problem (or maybe it's normal?) and has found a fix, I'd like to know. If it is normal, anything I can do to perhaps make my laptop a little quieter?

Thanks in advance.

 

I can never achieve an HDD spin down every few second windows accesses the drive.

But it is not normal to hear the spinning for any brand, at least not high enough to be bothersome. Did you install this yourself? If so are you sure all the screws were replaced an tightened so that the drive wouldn't vibrate.

 

The HDD is the one that came with the laptop. I guess I could try tightening the screws anyways. The spinning sounds like a fan on high, except I know it's not the fan because it's coming from where the HDD is and the fan is on the other side.

EDIT - Nope, no loose screws.

 

That's a problem then. Have you called whoever you got it from?

 

Yup, that might need a return for repairs if under warranty.

Did you check the HDD condition using some software that can read the SMART health, like HDTUNE?

 

I've only had the laptop for just over 3 weeks, and it was manufactured only 3 months ago.

I've used PC-Doctor and HDTune and both say it's perfectly fine.

Could there possibly any other fix? By the way, thanks for all of the input so far, qwester.

 

If it has been like that since day 1 then it might simply be a bad drive that requires an exchange. Some drives are dead out of the box, so new doesn't always mean 100% functional.

I think you should call Lenovo. 3 weeks means you are still under the 30 day return period. So you could just exchange the whole thing or just have them replace the HDD or send you a new one for you to replace (I think they would accept to do that, but you could make sure in the IBM/Lenovo section of the forums)

 

Posting on the IBM/Lenovo forum is a good idea, as is calling Lenovo.

It may well be that your HDD is normal. We all have different tolerances for noise--me, well, too many punk rock concerts back in the early 80s may have had an effect.

But do it while you are still within the 30 day return period.

 

It's been like this since day 1. I didn't order directly from Lenovo, but I am definitely still within my warranty period. So, I'll give them a call tomorrow.

 

So, today I checked out my dad's Sony laptop and all I have to say is, **** my laptop is quiet. I thought the noises coming out of my laptop were loud but then I heard his (fan?) and I thought to myself, maybe my laptop is "quiet" after all. I figure I'll be replacing the HDD eventually.

Quick questions: If I install a new HDD, I could just clone my old HDD and it'd be running just like before? Also, would it be possible to run the Recovery CD's on a brand new HDD to install Windows and the drivers and stuff? (Perhaps the second question would do better in the IBM/Lenovo forums...)

 

Yes you can restore with a new HDD installed.

I am not sure if you can do the clonning thing and get it to work on the new HDD. Because you are changing the hardware configuration, and that might cause a problem ... but I could be wrong. It would be interesting to see if windows has a problem if the system disk changes !!!!???