My computer makes clicking noise sometimes and then it freezes for few seconds?

My computer makes clicking noises sometimes and than it freezes for few seconds. Everything stops responding and then everything is fine after 1 minute. I think that the sound comes from the hard drive? It was happening to me a month ago, then it stopped, and now it is happening again. Do I need to buy a new HD? I have dual core 3.4 GHz, 3 GB RAM.

asked Sep 14 '10 at 12:42

hippocomputer
1●1●1●3

edited Sep 14 '10 at 16:05

Fogarty ♦♦
11.7k●12●27●38

what os do you have?

(Sep 14 '10 at 12:58) Tim Fontana

Windows 7 Professional 32-bit.

(Sep 14 '10 at 16:15) hippocomputer

7 Answers:

oldest newest most voted

if the sound is coming from the hard drive then the hard drive has shut down and you are waiting for it to turn back on i had the same issue when my hard drive was starting up this fixed it

answered Sep 14 '10 at 12:57

Tim Fontana
15.3k●135●199●368

edited Sep 14 '10 at 12:58

Timn96
4.7k●13●32●94

I've checked my power plan settings and my hardrive was set to 30 mins.. but the clicking noise come after 10 mins or less. One more thing when i move my CPU like 2 or 3 inches from its position suddenly the same clicking noise comes again and it freezes for 1 to 2 mins and than everything is fine for 20 to 40 mins.

(Sep 14 '10 at 16:14) hippocomputer

hmm. im not sure then, but i wouldnt move the cpu. thats not good for it, what specs you got btw?

(Sep 14 '10 at 16:20) Tim Fontana

You need to take the cover off the System Unit and see exactly where the sound is coming from to determine if the drive is failing or not. To be the safest, if you haven't done so, please back up all your user data at the early possible time you can!

answered Sep 14 '10 at 13:36

djmoore711
2.0k●22●34●54

I am 90% sure that the sound is coming from the Hard disk. I've already backed-up my data.

(Sep 14 '10 at 16:07) hippocomputer

Time to image the old drive (Acronis True Image or something similar) and install a new drive, or you can just install the new drive, install the OS on there fresh, and put all your data back in the appropriate user directories!

Make sure you get the right drive so the interfaces match!

The sound could be coming from when the drive gets warm, it starts to malfunction. Metal expands at higher temperatures. Drives get hot fast under use.

(Sep 22 '10 at 05:06) djmoore711

Before you even begin to consider the OS,look for 2 major faults. 1> Heat/cooling issues. Bad,inadequate or absent ventilation and/or a poorly cooled machine can cause intermittent locks or hangs.Open the box,check the fan and vac all the dust and other crap.Let it run with the cover off and see what happens IF the fan[s] and other ventilation is OK. People miss this all the time- I clean my machines every month and I get longer life out of them.And no, cleaning the power supply vents doesn't cut it. OPEN THE BOX, clean it up and look at the fan[s]. I never run a machine with a single fan on the chip and I don't trust a heat sinks at all. Chips get HOT;keep them cool and clean.

2> clean up the drive and test. Dells,HPs and many other machines have test utilities built in. Other HD utilities are easy to find. Who mfg'd the drive? Go to thier website- they always have test utilities.

3> Got a bad-ass video accelerator? They run hot too. Heat + heat + heat equels trouble. Now go to the OS and check your file structure. If its a Windows machine with a factory install or the install is over a year old, back up your data,make sure you have the programs to reinstall and NUKE it.

Have fun.Let us know how the deal works out,man! dc

answered Sep 14 '10 at 14:20

NoncDavid
406●7●14●24

My CPU case is always open. So, i don't think so there is any heat problem. Temperature is fine I've checked it earlier. You know when i touched the the wire that is going from the motherboard to my Hd suddenly i heard the same clicking noise that was coming before...

Any help BTW thanks for your comment...

(Sep 14 '10 at 16:10) hippocomputer

Did you ensure that it's not that wire making the noise? That wire could be loose & tapping the inside of the case & causing that noise.

(Sep 15 '10 at 00:46) BlazeEagle

i had this exact same thing happen, the drive is going to die so get one as soon as possible and get your data off of it.

download this

Ahsampoo HDD control http://download.cnet.com/Ashampoo-HDD-Control/3000-2086_4-10929035.html

it's a tril program, but it will tell you the SMART status of your drive. mine had problem with the 'read error rate' attribute. was returned to manufacturer as it was still under warrenty.

if you have more then one drive, this will show you each drives attribues.

answered Sep 14 '10 at 14:24

roguekiller23231
4.2k●72●104●142

Below is the ashmpoo's results.

(Sep 14 '10 at 16:05) hippocomputer

0	answered Sep 14 '10 at 16:04 hippocomputer 1●1●1●3

SMART = Fail

Backup your data and get new Hard Drive

answered Sep 14 '10 at 16:39

CyberTourniquet
236●9●9●16

double click on the drive and it should give you a detailed result. the smart status seems very good for the drive. but keep an eye on it, as it can change.

my drive said the exact same, 98% health and 100%performance, and it fluctuated because the drive was faulty. just you will be warned if the drives status changes. of ot does, that is the real value should it rise again, make sure to take a screen shot of the low state if your still under warrenty, as it will help you if you send a print out of it explaining it went down.

(Sep 14 '10 at 19:10) roguekiller23231

SMART = System Monitoring and Reporting Tool is not 100% accurate

and most of the case even fail so I don't trust SMART

(Sep 15 '10 at 02:45) CyberTourniquet

0	It sounds like HD failure. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING IMPORTANT BACKED UP! answered Sep 15 '10 at 01:47 Cateye Productions 2.3k●9●23●53

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