New hard drive makes 'clicks'

[Verted]

I upgraded my hard drive today to a 120gb Western Digital drive. It make a clicking noise every so often, like maybe twice a minute. Is this normal? I'm sure it didnt do it before and its pretty annoying!

 

[Kash]

Is it a 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM drive? Also, is it a clicking sound or more of a grinding noise?

 

[knightlie]

Just sounds like the drive being accessed, assuming it's a click. Some drives are noisier than others.

 

[niall]

I posted about this a while back, and took my macbook in to the apple store in Glasgow. Its quite possibly the sound of the hard drive about to fail. If it's still in warranty, then you will be able to get it replaced free of charge! Though it costs for a data transfer, so back up all your stuff before you take it in!

 

[Kash]

Just sounds like the drive being accessed, assuming it's a click. Some drives are noisier than others.

That's more of a grinding noise, maybe a very rapid, low pitched clicking. But if it's straight up loud clicking, then we're looking at potential drive failure.

Hey, maybe the guy hasn't replied yet because his drive failed before he could get an answer...

 

[knightlie]

That's more of a grinding noise, maybe a very rapid, low pitched clicking. But if it's straight up loud clicking, then we're looking at potential drive failure.

Could be, the SMART status in Disk Utility would probably give a hint.

Hey, maybe the guy hasn't replied yet because his drive failed before he could get an answer...

Ha, there's irony....

 

[Spartan117]

crap, mine does that too. I thought it was normal. guess not. Hmmmm.

 

[dtravis7]

With all the clicking drives I have dealt with, usually the OS pauses when it's clicking and there are hesitations when loading programs. When you hear the clicks do things pause when loading for a couple of seconds?

I have seen brand new drives out of the box have issues so it could be a problem. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder and check the S.M.A.R.T status of the drive like Knightlie suggested.

 

[knightlie]

Before panic sets in, all drives make a noise while they are reading/writing, and every OS - OSX, Windows, even my Linux-based network drive - accesses the drive regularly. The noise varies from drive to drive, so don't assume a noise means an ensuing problem. Like dtravis says, an actual drive error will probably affect the system in one way or another.

If you're concerned, keep an eye on the SMART status in Disk Utility, and also watch for the kind of pauses he described, including long delays while starting programs or booting up. A repetitive rattle/grind while opening a program or file is a good indication of an error - the system will retry a failed operation a set number of times. And keep your important data backed up, just in case!

 

[MegaRoss]

My pc hard disk makes loud clicking sounds and I usually have to reformat every so often when it becomes corrupt (no point in replacing it as its a rented pc).