HDD sounds like fan ?

Hey,

my TC 4200 is very loud. I think it is coming from the HDD. It does sound like a fan. When the HDD is turned off by energy management it is absolutely quiet.
I do not think it was this way from the beginning, but I cannot remember exactly. I only remember that I was amazed how quiet this machine was when I turned it on the first time.

regards,
Markus

 

The HDD can make a good deal of noise, but it shouldn't be that bad. Unfortunately the best way to test is with another drive. You might go download HD Tune though and test the drive for issues.

 

I would have some concern. I have a 4200 and it is very quiet. Of course the HD does make some noise, but unless I am doing a very disk intensive task it is barely audible. The other thing that you may want to check is disk fragmentation. If you are doing disk intensive tasks and there is a high level of fragmentation it will cause the disk to thrash more and make more noise. Still shouldn't be overly loud though.

 

I do not think there is an error with the HDD.

I have the feeling it is spinning all the time at full speed. Is there a way to slower it or something like that ?

regards,
Markus

 

First off make sure it isn't the fan (check for air being vented), once you are sure the fan is off, set your power settings so the hard drive will cycle down in 3 minutes then make sure power is unplugged and set it on a desk for 5 minutes. Everything should be shut down by this point. If you are still hearing the noise, it could be that there is some app/service causing your HD to run constantly. I know that if you have CHC installed there is a mode which will cause the HD to run constantly.

I am not aware of any programs which will force a HD shutdown but you could google it.

 

Seriously Markus,

I would download HD Tune as Brian suggested. It will be an open and shut case with HP if you find an error which if what you are hearing is indeed the drive - I am sure HD Tune will indicate a problem.

http://www.hdtune.com/download.html

Barry

 

I tried HD tune. It shows me an error under the Health tab: "Seek Error Rate". Other S.M.A.R.T Diagnostic tools do not show this error.
The Error Scan was completed with no errors.

I tried the steps Daring suggested before. There is nothing coming out of the vent. The "fan-sound" I am talking about is heard loudest in the area of the speaker (which is where the HDD is located, right ?).

Power settings: The HDD cycles down after 3 minutes, and the machine is absolutely quiet. After a few seconds the HDD becomes active again without the laptop being in use.
At this point there is this typical "HDD-becoming-active"-sound and then it is spinning up until it sounds like a fan again.

 

@ Markus

I know exactly what you mean. I hear the "fan" of the hard disk too. Only when the real fan drives on i cannot hear the harddisk fan, because the normal fan is much louder.

In my TC4200 a Seagate ist built in http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v225/Dragoncrawl/Bild012.jpg