Question PC is making a noise every few seconds ?

[Mysteryman2]

I have a Windows 11 PC and it has been running quite happily for a couple of months, but the last few days it has started to make a sound (a sort of blip) every few seconds.

Also noticed that if I go on to Device Manager then it lists all the devices then refreshes the list, again, every few secopnds - although I don't think it corresponds exactly with the sound!

I have read that the sound indicates a device disconnect.

Anyone got any suggestions for how I can track this down and identify the culprit?

Thanks

 

[lvt]

Could be an USB device malfunctioning... ?

 

[Ralston18]

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

Include PSU, disk drives, USB devices.

= = = =

Look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer for any error codes, warnings, or informational events just before or at the time of the blips (beep?).

Reliability History/Monitor is end user friendly and the timeline format can be revealing. Look for changes or events that also occurred/began "a few days ago".

Event Viewer is similar but requires more time and effort to navigate and understand.

To help with Event Viewer:

How To - How to use Windows 10 Event Viewer | Tom's Hardware Forum (tomshardware.com)

Another place to look is Update History - there may have been some failed or problem update a few days ago.

And per @Ivt it could be a malfunctioning USB device. Unplug them one at a time and determine if the blips end. May take some trial and error to discover a potential culprit.

 

[gardenman]

A couple of utilities which may help:

Show USB devices and info about them:
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html

Show a LOG of USB devices actions such as connect or disconnect:
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_log_view.html

 

[Mysteryman2]

Thanks for all the help. I am sure the suggestions will help me sort it out

Update: All was quiet this morning, but I set the USBLogView utility running and left it for a while. Fortunately, the sound started up and the log showed up a device connecting/disconnecting several times. It was referring to Drive H:, which is what is normally used when I plug in a USB stick on the front of my PC. It is an add-on panel with several connections (SD card, USB, etc.)

When I looked at it then I could see the light in the SD card slot flash about the same time as the noise. So, I think we have the culprit. I will check the internal connection and if nothing obvious then will replace the panel.

Thanks for help!

 

[SkyNetRising]

Thanks for all the help. I am sure the suggestions will help me sort it out

Make a recording of the sound and share here.
You can use vocaroo to upload audio files.

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