Hi folks,

A while ago I got a new 80GB Maxtor HD to replace an IBM Deskstar drive that was making the death sounds (clicking etc). A few months or so later the new drive started making the scary noises again, so I did the RMA thing with it and got a shiny new 120GB drive from Maxtor. Now guess what - this drive has started making the whining noises as well. It makes these clicky noises for a bit then lets out a short screech and goes back to normal sound again. I have successfully managed to RMA my RMA, so I hope things will be OK, but I want to know if anyone has any idea as to why my drives are crapping out so often? I do a lot of downloading, but not all day every day.

Am I working it too hard??

Cheers,

Matt

Hey Matt,

That doesn't sound good at all, if the hard drive is clicking loudly it is usually because it is damaged. Do you have a surge protector? From looking at similar cases this can be caused by large power spikes which can damage the PC's components, including the Hard Drive. The first thing I would do is get a good surge protector first as they are relatively inexpensive and most will provide a warranty over whatever is plugged into them incase a spike somehow gets through.

Good advice D-A-L. Surge protection 4-way extension leads are only about £15-£20 and often come with thousands of pounds worth of warranty for what's plugged into them, as D-A-L says.

If it's really getting on your nerves and you want to invest a little more, then an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is a very viable alternative as prices have fallen so much this year. You can get a small APS PowerChute UPS for reasonable money these days and this will go further than a surge protection strip in that it will keep your PC running and shut it down safely (if it comes with software to do that bit) in the event of a total mains power failure, which can be just as damaging as a voltage spike.

Another thing that springs to mind in relation to your hard disk problem is the possibility that they might be overheating. This is normally only an issue in the winter though when PCs are sat next to hot radiators and other parts would normally suffer more than hard disks. Have you had any other components pack up prematurely in this PC? Did they look like they had melted, lol ?!