Question Hard Drives making clicking noise ?

[Merrin]

This has been a problem for some time now. I have 4 hard drives, of which 3 are >15 yrs old and used for storage.

All of them start clicking when connected to the computer. A new Seagate Barracuda 2 TB drive bought 15 months ago also does the same.

All the drives were tested on a new computer(1 yr old) and an old computer with the same problem. Many times the computer does not recognize that a HD is connected after a lot of clicking.

I know that many here say that the SMPS is not the problem, but what else can it be? The psu is an old Chinese power supply that has been replaced a few times.

It works perfectly with an SSD. I've modded the PSU to provide a charging output to a rechargeable battery so as far as possible, I'd like to continue using it.

Any ideas or possible solutions to this, and should I be worried about the drives?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Any ideas or possible solutions to this, and should I be worried about the drives?

Replace PSU.
Replace drives.

Old Chinese PSU is first to be changed to a decent model to avoid any power issues.
15 years old drives can die at any moment.
What capacity are those drives? 200GB or something? Just replace with single larger capacity model.
Seagate Barracuda is not a good choice. Those all are SMR drives.

 

[Merrin]

Replace PSU.
Replace drives.

Old Chinese PSU is first to be changed to a decent model to avoid any power issues.
15 years old drives can die at any moment.
What capacity are those drives? 200GB or something? Just replace with single larger capacity model.
Seagate Barracuda is not a good choice. Those all are SMR drives.

Changing the PSU is a problem because of the modding I've done to it and will take a lot of time. Would changing the filter capacitors in the smps be enough?

Which supply rail is likely to be the problem, the 5v or 12v?

I'd like to think that the issue is with the drives but even the new drive clicks, and not always.
The old drives definitely need changing, 1 x 500GB, 1 x 250GB, and 2 x 320GB. All of them are ok at times and only used when I need some data from them.

 

[fzabkar]

Examine the SMART reports:

https://www.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/index/smart/

 

[SkyNetRising]

Changing the PSU is a problem because of the modding I've done to it and will take a lot of time.

Might as well be - your modifications are causing the issue.

 

[35below0]

Changing the PSU is a problem because of the modding I've done to it and will take a lot of time. Would changing the filter capacitors in the smps be enough?

Which supply rail is likely to be the problem, the 5v or 12v?

I'd like to think that the issue is with the drives but even the new drive clicks, and not always.
The old drives definitely need changing, 1 x 500GB, 1 x 250GB, and 2 x 320GB. All of them are ok at times and only used when I need some data from them.

The clicking may be caused by the power supply. I don't know why. You can try with a different PSU to see if it still clicks.
If you really want to use the PSU for battery charging, mod the new one. That's dangerous to do, but you seem to know what you're doing and you're willing to accept the risks.


Depending on the price, a WD Blue 5400rpm could take over from all of those drives. A 4Tb model may be reasonably priced, or you could opt for a 2Tb model.
I like them because they are not built for speed but are more durable and more quiet.

SSD is superior but if the drive is not an OS drive, and is not used for gaming or professional work but just mass storage, then SSD speed is not an advantage. It's down to price and reliability.

I have an ancient Seagate 500Gb drive that somehow still works. Nothing on it is remotely important and it's in an older machine. I have no reason to throw it away unless/until it fails.

 

[Merrin]

Might as well be - your modifications are causing the issu

The modification is a tiny circuit and socket to charge a small battery, it draws hardly 5ma and has a toggle switch to disconnect it when not needed.

Anyway, I reinstalled Windows and haven't heard a single click since. 😋

Thanks for all the replies. 👍

 

[35below0]

The modification is a tiny circuit and socket to charge a small battery, it draws hardly 5ma and has a toggle switch to disconnect it when not needed.

Anyway, I reinstalled Windows and haven't heard a single click since. 😋

Thanks for all the replies. 👍

Why would reinstalling Windows solve the problem? It's good that it's ok now, but you still don't know what the issue was.

Also, you should not award the solution to yourself. It's for other's posts if they help solve the problem.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Why would reinstalling Windows solve the problem? It's good that it's ok now, but you still don't know what the issue was.

Clicking noise is a hardware problem.
That can not be solved by software means.
Expect clicking to return.

 

[COLGeek]

This thread is now closed. Thank you to all who contributed.