Wierd Hard Drive Noises

Hi,
I just notised that my hard drive is making wierd sounds, almost like the sound of a CD being read from a CD-ROM. A week ago I recieved a message during boot-up that said that my hard disk was operating outside of normal paramaters, and that I should replace it. I called Dell tech support, and they told me that I should just re-install XP Home, which I did. Does this mean that my hard disk is about to fail?
P.S. The disk is 3 months old.
Thanks a lot.
~Robert

1. RE: Wierd Hard Drive Noises
lbyard Mar-20-02 12:01 PM
In response to message 0

Robert, what is the make and model of the drive? Could you try to describe the noise in more detail? Larry

2. RE: Wierd Hard Drive Noises
ad_pellaeon Mar-21-02 09:46 AM
In response to message 1

Thanks for the quick response..
Well, I am not sure as to the make of the drive, it came pre-installed in my Dell computer. So, I assume it is a Dell hard disk. If it helps, it is 40GB in size. It is the only HD installed. As for the noises, they are a loud whirrring sound, followed buy a couple of clicks whenever I open a program like MS Word. However, I believe that it is not the CD-ROM because the program does not need to read from the CD ROM and there is nothing in the CD ROM drive. I hope that this helps. THanks.

3. RE: Wierd Hard Drive Noises
lbyard Mar-21-02 11:52 AM
In response to message 2

Unless it it is more like clinking noise, it sounds like what CD-ROM drive with a CD in it. One way to find is to remove the cover and listen closely/disconnect the CD-ROM drive. Larry

4. RE: Wierd Hard Drive Noises
Twinhead Mar-21-02 02:57 PM
In response to message 0

Excuse me for language erroes, I am Dutch.
Yes!! Your hard drive is about to fail!
Please backup all data ASAP and replace the drive.
Although the drive is in the beginning fase of a failure it could be dead sooner than you meight think.
The extra sound is the ball bearings of the spindle that are wearing out.
That clicking noise are the read/write heads that are shooting to the "Landing zone" as a safety precoution.
This prevents the heads to scratch the surface of the disks while they are tending to wobble due to the increase of the space in the bearing.
Victor.

6. RE: Wierd Hard Drive Noises
lbyard Mar-21-02 04:53 PM
In response to message 4

Well, with respect to hard disk drives, I've seen other reasons for these symptoms, such as imtermittant power (loose connector), but I'm not sure it is the hard disk yet. However, you are probably correct. Larry