New WD Hard drive making grinding/scratchy noise (recorded sound attac

[hddzero]

Hi guys. i've recently bought a WD hard drive. It's fast and cool

(between 35 to 41) But it makes an annoying sound while reading\writing data. Please listen to the recorded file and let me know if it's a broken drive. Please note that there is no distance between the hole on the top of the HDD and microphone, that's why it's so clear and a bit loud. If you're using a slow connection, download the second file.

http://www.easy-share.com/1909109017/Hdd%20-%20motor%20and%20noise.WMA

http://www.easy-share.com/1909109047/Hddmotorannoise56k.wma

I recorded this sound while loading photoshop and searching drive c.

 

[pepperman]

Sounds like it could be a bad drive (based on the sound, my guess is the heads are touching the disc); contact WD and explain it to them, or RMA it to newegg if that's where you bought it from.

 

[hddzero]

hi again.

(my guess is the heads are touching the disc)

And that will damage the disk and make it "unwritable", right? Could this be caused by a bad power supply?


Some folks say it's pretty normal. That's usually what you hear when there is a read/write process.

 

[pepperman]

The heads touching the disc won't be damaging by itself, the problem comes when a shock occurs during a read/write operation (granted, this is potentially damaging regardless whether the heads are touching or not, but the chances are greater if the heads are touching).
The psu won't cause this; it lies solely in the construction of the drive.
Though true that several HDDs probably make this noise on a regular basis, it usually isn't noticeable over the ambient noise of the case/cpu fans.
Ultimately, its up to you; were I you, and this drive were still under warranty, I would consider RMAing it.

 

[leonfeldman89]

The heads touching the disc won't be damaging by itself, the problem comes when a shock occurs during a read/write operation (granted, this is potentially damaging regardless whether the heads are touching or not, but the chances are greater if the heads are touching).
The psu won't cause this; it lies solely in the construction of the drive.
Though true that several HDDs probably make this noise on a regular basis, it usually isn't noticeable over the ambient noise of the case/cpu fans.
Ultimately, its up to you; were I you, and this drive were still under warranty, I would consider RMAing it.

Um, no offense but this is just not accurate. The heads of modern hard drives are positioned micrometers above the platters buffered by a cusion of air sustained by the high speed rotation of the spindle.

The heads should never actually make contact with the platters, if they make contact due to vibration or shock, they will cause physical damage to the magnetic substrate and destroy the dat on the sectors there and any sectors the debris landed on.

If you actually hear the sound of the heads scraping even for a cfraction of a second, that means that the heads cause rotational scoring and have destroyed the media forever.

However, the noise you're describing(donwload links are deleted) is probably the mechanical interface moving the head rack not physical damage. This is normal on some older drives, but on modern drives it's unusual durring normal operations.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Thread is 3 years old.