I can hear clicking noises coming from my laptop's fan?

[dbryan94]

I have an Asus X501A laptop, and the fan is on the bottom left side. For the past few weeks, I can hear random clicking noises coming from the fan every 30-60 minutes. I don't know what it is, but I have two theories. It's either:

There is something stuck in the fan that is making this noise.

The fan is partially damaged, and that's what's making the noise.

Some of the clicking noises can be quite quite, but other times the clicking noise can be loud... but not very or extremely loud.

What could it be?

 

[Ubrales]

If it is from the fan it is some object that is rubbing against the fan blades.

However, there could be a more serious problem if it is from the hard disk. Clicking sounds from the hard disk is a warning signal for impending failure. Before you do anything further, make a clone of your existing hard disk. After that, check the existing hard disk for errors. "HDTune" or "CrystalDiskInfo" are two good programs for checking the health of the disk.

 

[Ubrales]

Some info on cloning:

Backup before you do anything. Backup to an external drive.

For cloning (making an exact copy of the entire disk) you need to connect the hard disk to your present computer OR to a different computer and then use a cloning software. There are a few good free cloning software that you can download and run.

There is Acronis (free download from WD's website).

Clonezilla: http://clonezilla.org/

Apricorn (this is what I use): http://www.apricorn.com/products/software/ezgig.html
(Needs ‘Drivewire’ - $35) - http://www.apricorn.com/media/uploads/DriveWire_Manual_rev7_14.pdf

EaseUS: http://www.easeus.com/backup-software/ (I have used this) - look for the clone option.

After you clone the hard disk, use the newly cloned hard disk in place of the old hard disk.

Make a backup of the new setup.

If your hard disk is bad, it may be a good time to consider an SSD.