hard drive buzzing??

My laptop has started to buzz. It's not a constant buzzing, just every so often, once a minute maybe, sometimes less often. It almost sounds like the thing is passing gas!! I'm thinking it may be the hard drive. Any ideas? Does this mean my hard drive is about to die? And if so, what do I do???

 

If you are sure that it not the optical drive (CD/DVD) then you should prepare for the hard drive to expire soon. That's just from my experience. Even if it's not going to die, better to backup your data ASAP.

 

Also make sure it is not the fan. Laptop fans do die after awhile. How old is your laptop?

P.S. In the meantime, backup your data. I suggest using a USB memory stick for now.

 

I didn't even think about the optical drive. There's nothing in there, so I'm guessing that wouldn't be the problem. The laptop's about a year and a half old. I did the whole back up thing, but it asked me to insert a floppy disk (i obviously don't have a floppy drive) and couldn't get it to burn to cd. My usb drive was left in my dorm room and i'm worried the computer won't make it that long.

 

Just burn data disks of info, doesn't need to be anything special in order to make a backup.

 

So this is (almost) definitely the hard drive? If i bought a new hard drive would I be able to transfer everything over easily? What if I couldn't get the new hard drive until after this one dies, will everything be lost?

 

You have a 30 GB hard drive. How much of that is essential data? I mean documents or media files or etc., NOT entire programs or the Windows operating system files.

Also, are the buzzing sounds coming from the hard drive area? Do you notice any unusual delay during file transfers?

Say you move 3GB worth of stuff from Folder1 to Folder2. Does the buzzing get worse as the file transfer progresses?

Again, you'll notice a decrease or degradation of performance if it is your hard drive. Don't jump to conclusions.

Now for transferring data: a 1GB USB flash key would most certainly be enough for your important documents and files. If you cannot borrow one for the time being, consider putting your docs into a zip file and Email it to yourself. If your school has a limit on email attachment size or inbox size, then use MSN or Yahoo or Gmail or etc. These are the easier ways.

Another way would be to buy a notebook hard drive and a 2.5" external hard drive enclosure from a store. Put the hard drive into the enclosure, hook the enclosure up to your PC via the USB cable included, and you should be able to transfer whatever you want via Windows Explorer.

But do yourself a favor and run Scan Disk first to make sure it's your hard drive. You can do this by opening Windows Explorer, right clicking on the Local Disk C: drive, going to Properties. On the window that pops up, go to the Tools tab, and there should be an option that will check the disk's volume for errors. Run this first, and get back to us before you decide all is lost.

 

I ran both Scan Disk and HD Tune's error checking program and both of them came up clean
hmmm...

 

and as far as moving large files/running demanding applications, i do neither. the buzzing seems to be totally random as far as its timing/frequency

 

That's what I suspected. Hard drives tend to die with "ticking" or "clicking" or "scratching" sounds. Buzzing sounds usually means you have a screw loose in the case somewhere, or your fan is crapping out. Towards the end of my old laptop's lifetime, the case was buzzing every time the fan came on.

So I'd say back up what essential files you need, and just don't worry about it. This way, if it does crap out on you, you have your files. If it doesn't, you can keep using it normally. Don't send it in to a repair shop or buy a new hard drive, that's sort of like anticipating a car crash five minutes before it happens. More likely than not the trip to the repair shop will do more damage than good if your notebook is working fine.

 

i think that's what i'll do! if something does go wrong, i've had my eye on a macbook..!

thanks for all your help!