Hi,

For about 3 months now my pc's been growling on startup. Something happened like a power cut and since then it's not been right.
This happens only 50% of the time, and only since it's been cold weather ( maybe it's shivering lol ).
It's hard to describe the noise,but it's like a growl, or a mini washing machine on its spin cycle.
Oh, and it only makes this noise on startup, until I put my logon password in.Then the pc loads fine and it's fine all day.
Hoping it's the fan or sumat and not the hard drive dying.

Any ideas? cheers chaps, Dave.

You guessed the two main suspects: fan or drive.

Open it up and start it. See if you can pinpoint the source.

Unfortunately I'd suspect the hard drive.

You can run the manufacturers diagnostic on it and also you should have it backed up.

Ok, when i can i'll take a looksee

Originally Posted by jephree

You can run the manufacturers diagnostic on it and also you should have it backed up.

How do i go about this?
I've looked for my hdd: Maxtor 6EO4OLO
http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/m...data_sheet.pdf

and no, nowt's backed up, so i'm screwed if i loose files/work/pics etc - got a 'back up for noobs' guide anyone! - I was just thinking of piggybacking this hdd in a diferent computer, and copying my files to that pc's hdd??

Cheers, Dave.

MaxBlast is the diagnostic:

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.js...00dd04090aRCRD

Hopefully you have a floppy drive (the easy way) otherwise you can make the bootable ISO CD. Let us know if you need more info or clarification.

As to backups you can do as you suggest or just burn some CD/DVD's or any type of USB drive.

Hi Jephree,
Thanks for the link but i'm not sure how to use that site/what to click on, do they scan my hdd or summat?

I've got the cover off and i'm 70/30 % sure the noise is coming from the top left fan # 1. Hopefully it just needs a clean, as it doesn't plug into the mobo like fan # 2 does, it's part of that block of wires.

P.s, I cleaned this pc 2 years ago ( bottom or second pic ) and now it's filthy again. Could this be because the tower is at floor level, and not on the desk, or should i be thoroughly cleaning it say every 12 months..

Cheers, Dave.

Cleaning once a year is a good idea and a desktop is probably cleaner than the floor.

CPU fans usually connect to the motherboard to monitor speed and temperature whereas case fans do not.

As to MaxBlast actually I should have posted PowerMax which is now SeaTools: SeaTools for DOS:

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.js...00dd04090aRCRD

You create a bootable floppy from this download which when booted will run tests on your Maxtor/Seagate harddrive/s.

What i always do, is i check my machines every 6 months. But as for the sounds, it sounds like it might be the hard drive as jephree stated. Many times hard drives will make sounds when starting up. But when you hear a sound such as grinding and clicking, that means its dying. Since you can still boot up (at least i think you said you could) i would at least create backups of all your files. Ya know, store them on a cd or flash drive whatever, that way you can transfer them.

Anyways, after reviewing the picture, I think i may have to come to a conclusion based on your assumption. You might need a new fan. It sounds like the ball barings are starting to ware out in the fan. but dont go out and buy on first. Troubleshoot some more and get back to us

Hi, quick update -

I've not had time or pc's in use constantly to take it apart to clean or change fan / s etc.

But i did get on the seatools download. hmm.
Tried to d/load the floppy boot for Dos but it says my 1.44mb floppy's too small,needs 1.45..!?! The only rewriteable cd i have has lots already on it. If i d/load to this cd, will the pc see 'that' seatools file, and boot from it, or will i have to get a fresh,clean cd?
anyway,
So i d/loaded the seatools for windows and ran that,hoping the DST Drive Self Test passed,as then the Hdd should be ok ( for once i read the destructions! lol )

S.M.A.R.T. test jobby ------------------------------ Pass
Short DST--------------------------------------------FAIL
Long DST---------------------------------------------FAIL yikes
Short Generic----------------------------------------Pass

So my Hdd could be dodgy, not sure, -

Started this morning and it growled so i thought s*d this, i touched the case fan with a 'plastic' paintbrush and the note of growl changed.Hmm,cool, maybe it is this fan.
Then i touched the power supply box jobby ( psu? ) - bummer,same result, the tone of the growl goes higher and lower, depending where you're pressing..Lol, aint this super technical pc fixing,cheapo brush.. anyway, sure it wasn't as bad near the Hdd.
So now i'm more intrigued we shall see

That download to CD is a Disk Image. As such it fills an entire CD. It is not data per se but an image that covers the whole disc no matter the data size.

Are you using a brand new blank floppy? I just made one with no problem even thought the download says 1.45 it made the floppy for me.

http://seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...i=&p_topview=1

Those failed tests do not look good. Definitely back up any important data.

Originally Posted by jakeyeager

Anyways, after reviewing the picture, I think i may have to come to a conclusion based on your assumption. You might need a new fan. It sounds like the ball barings are starting to ware out in the fan. but dont go out and buy on first. Troubleshoot some more and get back to us

Hi all,the saga continues
Got annoyed with this growl again, so I wacked the PSU jobby yesterday and the sound went....So I turned it on today, from cold, and stuck my super tech paintbrush into the PSU fan........and the growl's stopped

..so, my next Q is, can I change the PSU fan or do I have to change the whole PSU unit itself? ...and will one from another PC fit,or do I have to get one with certain wattages etc Cheers, Dave.




*edit*

ok, had a spare PSU lying around ( water damaged,shed..) so took it apart to see how the fan's connected and it's soldered onto the leccy board thing, hmm, so might just change out the PSU. I'll see if I've got one in my growing pile of spares peeps keep donating,lol.

Also Jeph, I was wondering the same thing - WD 40 etc on the bearings but was afraid of contaminating the PSU itself - and then after taking the actual fan apart, I see there's no bearings anyway!!
...are they all bearing less nowadays ?