This begins the moment I push my power button to power up the PC. I am going to define it with My Self Created Relevant logic. At that point, we’re talking about terabytes and for that, you need a spinning magnetic hard drive or drives. Hard drive ALWAYS spinning! Virus infection would cause many disasters to your hard drive. Most Windows systems automatically power down HDDs after a period of inactivity. This situation could be created by any number of things. Please note: Do not post advertisements, offensive material, profanity, or personal attacks. 4. My hard drive has recently begun spinning for apparently no reason. Part II from the expert community at Experts Exchange How many apps due you have running at any one time? Also please exercise your best judgment when posting in the forums--revealing personal information such as your e-mail address, telephone number, and address is not recommended. Even when I have zero applications running and non-system proceccess running my hard drive is still working. Before accessing data from the hard disk drive (which is a slow poke), the operating system will first check if the data is already stored in the hard … I think the super fast hdd in the new age of mechanical hard drives should be titanium. A few months ago at work I had to destroy some old hard drives. Verify the hard drive is the source of the noise and not a different hardware component. This saves power, and possibly reduces wear on the drive. Hey guys and gals, new here so bare with me. There are many ways to measure Revolutions per minute (RPM) , which is a measurement of … And it will only stop after a certain period of disuse. Find answers to Why does this hard drive keep spinning up? I can reboot and disable extra items in Win XP (via msconfig) and after reboot the system idles fine for awhile. Most of my apps are on C: I probably have at least 60% AVAILABLE on C: and much more avail. This article will discuss about this case in detail. The problem is that spinning a mechanical disk back up to full speed takes a few seconds, during which the drive is essentially unusable, so that can slow things down a bit when use of the system resumes. In addition to drive use caused by your direct actions, computers perform numerous background tasks that also use the hard drive. Since the PC system only has a small amount of actual memory for caching. And this speeding hard drive from a system idle state continues, without me using flash, web browser, email or anything else.I can't leave my computer on, else this will occur. Maybe this could be it 1. I'm looking at the computer properties. There are cases for example where installing google desktop conflicts with windows file indexing or fast find causing constant drive access. Sometimes, it's a problem of a dusty or loose SATA cable that slows down your HDD. Sounds like it it thrashing. I just wish HP's hard drives weren't so very loud, it's annoying at times. Of course there is a lot of system stuff in the Task Mgr processes. Optical drives can be very noisy. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Someone must have reported it there by now, I would think.If you feel like it, find out exactly what is accessing the drive or ordering it to spin up to max rpm.http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx. If you have not utilized the drive for too long time, this issue may be in that you have ever damaged this drive physically, such as unintentionally dropping it, etc. If you're running more than a couple, 256MB may not be enough to prevent thrashing. As we all know, hard disk drive will spin in data read/write. Anyway when I had hard drives I remember them having to spool up after not accessing them for a while when I tried to access a file/folder since I had on my power options to turn off idle drives. The computer has always worked well with this setup. Run a custom test on the hard drive by following these steps. What Does It Mean If Hard Drive Spins Very Fast and Loudly? I have it set not to go to sleep because I use Parallels Access sometimes (though that barely works because more than half the time, my iMac shows up as Offline and Parallels customer service is useless). Everything else is off. If the hard drive is cliking and making noise in your computer, be careful. When I use it, the hard drive races. A hard drive’s motor can fail due to physical trauma, or it could fail simply due to old age – hard drives have a limited lifespan. On this page, we'll show you why is hard drive clicking, how to repair hard drive/external hard drive clicking sound without losing any data. But, in reality, many users have complained, all of a sudden, their hard drives spin far faster, companied with louder sounds than before. I have 1GB of RAM. 1) Press at the welcome screen for the boot menu. Today my one of my hard drives started spinning and will not stop. It could be a sign of a failing hard drive. Sorry about that.This problem occurs when the system is idle and I'm not even using the computer. 3) Choose no for memory test and then choose system test Once hard drive and software lack in good health, it begins to develop bad sectors, viruses, fragmentation, and many serious issues and finally leads to a very slow speed that affects your life and work. Under normal circumstances, this process will not make loud noises. hard drive keeps spinning up during idle, even in safe mode link626. I had purchased a LogiTech webcam. Once the track starts playing, it is immediately interrupted, probably because of the drive is getting ahead of itself, or because of the vibration. The LED is constantly flashing like it is working and I won't stop. If you find your hard drive spinning unusually fast and loudly, you may feel strange and worried. In normal situations, when computer works, its hard drive will spin continuously at a standard speed. When was the last time you defragged? pc is not overheated,all updates - 1494761 Hence, if a hard drive is attacked by viruses or malware, the drive may malfunction in a lot of respects, including strange spinning. HDs should not be spinning up after they are already running (they should be running at constant RPM). You can check your S.M.A.R.T status to see if theres anything out of the ordinary. Shirley Zhang is a data recovery expert in DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including mdf recovery and outlook repair software products. But when I use the same drive to rip the same CD audio tracks into MP3's (using a program called dMC Audio CD Input, the drive spins very slowly (slow enough that you can't hear the spinning) and all is fine - the tracks are ripped w/o problems. Everything Brian describes is me. Currently, a 4 TB hard drive can be had for around $120, and possibly less if you shop around. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx, Looking for microphone/headset recommendations for Twitch streaming. In the task manager it says 'System' is what is writing to disk, and the speed varies. Now expand Disk drives and you should see the model number of your hard drive, like shown below. This then brings us to another serious storage consideration: long term data archiving. Sounds like Vista is going to eat through hard drives then. What's "thrashing"?I have about 70GB on C: and another 170GB on ... also have an external hard drive with 100GB approx, but that drive is not racing. Are you sure it's the hard drive spinning up? In this case, what you can do is to back up the drive data as soon as possible and replace it. Any solution?Matt, That will do it.Otherwise, it sounds like a Logitech driver/software issue. Whether or not the hard drive spins constantly depends thus on: If the hard drive has been configured to automatically spin down after a set period of time. All of them will make use of hard drive, too. With 10.4, iTunes began to spin up the hard drive even when clicking on an album to review the list of songs that are on it, so just browsing the library in iTunes implied spinning up the hard drive. And I still have my 2TB and 3 TB drives from that time. But in less than an hour, it starts working: the hard drive starts spinning very fast and it will keep spinning fast for hours, if I let it. All submitted content is subject to our Terms Of Use. - 6476412 Assuming that you’ve used the hard drive for decades, chances are that the disk has been too old indeed. Essentially, the hard drive is where everything on your computer is stored, organized in metaphorical filing cabinets, ready to be retrieved and processed by the central processing unit (CPU). (The processor is Pentium 4 2.8 GHz). In addition, virus can make bad impacts on the hard drive’s performance. Hence, if a hard drive spins fast and loudly, there are chances that the drive is being overworked or virus-infected. I have a 2TB Seagate external hard drive connected via USB to my Late-2013 iMac. 1. Hence, if a hard drive spins fast and loudly, there are chances that the drive is being overworked or virus-infected. Follow or like us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to get all promotions, latest news and updates on our products and company. If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. 2) At the One Time Boot menu, press the arrow key to highlight Diagnostics, then press to begin ePSA. And sometimes it races in a flash-based chatroom. For example, if you unplug the power and data cables from the hard drive but you still hear the noise when you boot up the computer, it's clear that the problem is not with the hard drive. Note that if the model number is not listed completely under the Disk drives section, you can right-click on the drive and choose Properties. My hard drive on my notebook (product number M7572AV) spins all the time, even when I push the "on"/"off" button to shut it down. my hard drive in my hp pavillion model (A6745F) ,vista home edition sometimes spins fast like an airplane engine. © 2020 ZDNET, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. On my computer, it shows the entire model number of the hard drive (Hitachi HTS54…), which makes it really easy to look up. That’s when they had that big flood, and many hard drives skyrocketed in price. Thereby, hard drive works very hard, namely spinning very fast and loudly. Moreover, computer may perform multiple tasks in the background, such as the system updates, anti-virus scans and shuffling files in RAM. - posted in Internal Hardware: On my Dell Inspiron 1525, my hard drive is always spinning whether or not the laptop is open. How much free space do you have on the HDD? Copyright © 2020 DataNumen, Inc. - All rights reserved. To be honest, it is a bit difficult to distinguish between the normal sounds and the noises of failed hard drive. Look in startup, START, RUN type in MSCONFIG press enter, see what is running at startup. Windows 7 ultimate. None of this is new or unusual. So, every time you launch a program, read or write a file, disk will move heads to the right position, which will lead to noises. Please remember to be considerate of other members. Hello Dex Jackson, There are a myriad of reasons why your Hardrive continues to Read and Write while the Computer is “Suppose” to be Sleeping. The motor is what spins the hard drive’s magnetic platters at speeds of up to 15,000 RPM, so that could be a reason why your hard drive isn’t spinning. for a USR dialup modem; Sygate firewall; Nod32 antivirus; NVIDIA settings (for dual monitors' properties); Ad-Aware; and 3 apps, which are fairly lightweight: WinKey, EditPad, & AceText... for windows shortcuts, and text editing, clipboard tool. Try every scenario to really pinpoint the source. Hard drive is infected with virus. In a drive like this you'd technically only have to spin the drive half as fast to get the same access time because the data should be at most half a rotation away from one of the read/write heads. Hard Drive Is Constantly Spinning Hard Drive Is Constantly Spinning. Hard disk cache is like personal RAM for your hard disk - It stores frequently accessed data and is bleeding fast compared to than the rest of the hard disk drive. I find it hard to tell if disks are even powered up, the modern ones are so quiet: and it would be very unusual for disks to spin up and down so quickly - the power-saving timeouts are usually measured in minutes rather than seconds, even for a laptop. Access Too Large Program or Files Since the PC system only has a small amount of actual memory for caching. Generally speaking, during working, the common hard drive spins constantly at 7200 revolutions per minute (PRM) or so in a computer. Yes it is normal for cooling fan to make a noise. 3. If a hard drive contains bad sectors, it will become overheated when you write data to it. Note that if the model number is not listed completely under the Disk drives section, you can right-click on the drive and choose Properties. I don't know about yall, but the hard drive seems to be the common failure point for my computers. I can reboot and disable extra items in Win XP (via msconfig) and after reboot the system idles fine for awhile. I have disabled all backup settings, indexing, page file, antivirus and everything else I know of that causes the hard drive to work when you are not using it, and the … How much RAM do you have in your system? I don't know what I was thinking. Posts : 61. win 10 pro New 06 Apr 2016 #1. If the period of time after which the hard drive has been configured to automatically spin down ever elapses during normal use. And I'm assuming your HDD is another drive and not your main one lol. If the HD sound is changing dramatically, then it sounds like something is really wrong. My iMac is set not to go to sleep but will go into a standby state (monitor off) when idle. At startup the computer loads the driver(?) If you're new to the TechRepublic Forums, please read our TechRepublic Forums FAQ. I can't seem to get one to last more than a couple years on my main system. I have disabled many of the things suggested in other posts to no avail. Based on this principle, if you access too large apps or files, the noises will be louder. So, how do you check your hard drive speeds? On my computer, it shows the entire model number of the hard drive (Hitachi HTS54…), which makes it really easy to look up. Came across an old Connor hard drive that had dual actuators. Page 1 of 2 - Hard Drive spinning and clicking every 10 seconds. I know there is an option in power options to disable this, and it has been disabled for months on my Windows 8 install, and its still set to never even on Windows 10, yet the drive keeps spinning … It was also a great time to buy as well. My hard drive has recently begun spinning for apparently no reason. Read on to learn more about the different types of hard drives and why they matter, so you can confidently move forward with your new investment. These include scheduled system updates, anti … Funny how even today, the 2 TB is just about the standard today. Hell, the hard drive prices have not really been better actually. Most of its components are worn out, like the spindling bearings, heads and so on. Before accessing data from the hard disk drive (which is a slow poke), the operating system will first check if the data is already stored in the hard … To fix a slow hard drive, you must clearly know that there are basically two culprits: software and hard drive corruption. by pgc3 Dec 3, 2012 12:25AM PST. Since the invention of the gramophone, most forms of audiovisual recording and data storage have relied on making things spin. The reason hard drive platters cannot be, or more accurately, the reason they are not spun faster then they are currently is two-fold: 1) Microwaviness (that is literally what the property is called in the art, I didn't make it up) of a hard drive platter has a direct impact on how fast the platter can be spun. but with all tyhe heat removin mods and devices i put in oh btw clean heat grease {the white grease} and plenty of it so it wouldl squish out so no cpu-heatsink gaps still has the copper heat spreader on the cpui guess thats about all….so my question(s)why is the cpu/case fan runnin so fast it could make a 747 fly and an i just destined to be stuck with 3.25 gig of ram and not the full 4 gb As it shuts down the racing continues, even after Windows shuts down... it doesn't stop till the actual power to the computer turns off.Hope that helps.Brian, Okay this is me. Spinning Disk: A spinning disk is the mechanism within a hard disk drive to which memory is written. Nevertheless, it is also likely that your hard drive is virtually subject to the things that are much worse than what you think, such as the follows. Open Disk Defragmenter by clicking the Start button . Hard disk cache is like personal RAM for your hard disk - It stores frequently accessed data and is bleeding fast compared to than the rest of the hard disk drive. Hard drive constantly busy for some reason. Open Disk Defragmenter by clicking the Start button . Maybe this could be it 1. A forgotten cd/dvd in the optical drive can spin up and sound noisy also.Other than that I have no other ideas, I have never had an experience of the hdd spinning fast and sounding like an airplane engine. Just installed a Logitech webcam and off to the races I go. Now expand Disk drives and you should see the model number of your hard drive, like shown below. (about 80%) on the other drives. C is what most my work is done on and my apps are all on C.RAM is about 256MB.I defragged a few days ago. Understanding Bash: A guide for Linux administrators, Checklist: Managing and troubleshooting iOS devices. In this situation, you may find drive spinning too rapidly and loudly. In face of such cases, you may be panic, such as fearing suffering PST corruption. And I'm assuming your HDD is another drive and not your main one lol. You can check your S.M.A.R.T status to see if theres anything out of the ordinary. So, in the following, we’ll tell you several possible causes of such situations. Hard drive has bad sectors. It was just hopeless. What to Do When Outlook PST/OST File is Slow or Unresponsive, What to Do When Outlook Inbox Repair Tool(scanpst.exe) Fails to Repair PST Files, What to Do When Outlook Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe) Cannot Recover Wanted Items, How to Solve “Not a valid bookmark” Problem in MS Access, How to Solve “Cannot Expand the Folder” Error in Outlook PST File, How to Solve “An error has occurred which caused the scan to be stopped” in scanpst.exe. What is a hard drive? For more information visit www.datanumen.com. This conversation is currently closed to new comments. If the memory runs out, it will read other information directly from the drive. - posted in Windows 7: Greetings, A week or so ago I have noticed that my hard drive is constantly busy for some reason even when the system is idle. But I uninstalled this app to see if it was the problem. So I upgraded to Windows 10, and I noticed my hard drive keeps spinning down after 10 minutes or so. With rotating plates attached to an arm that writes the data, the spinning disk mechanism physically resembles a record player (although it is sealed within an enclosure). Check with Logitech support. Anyway when I had hard drives I remember them having to spool up after not accessing them for a while when I tried to access a file/folder since I had on my power options to turn off idle drives. Thanks,Brian. The other quick solution to fix a slow hard drive, especially for the hard drive that fails in a fast file transfer speed, is to switch the SATA data cable from the first to the last SATA port. The frequent data writing process will overheat the hard drive. Optical drives do spin up/down frequently. Expect SSD prices to continue to drop, with higher capacities slowly becoming mor… Thrashing refers to not enough system RAM and the hard drive is used to swap programs and data in and out of RAM. $99 for 250 GB is a great price, but $400 for 1 TB is still a bit steep, and if you have a serious media collection, even 1 TB isn’t going to do the trick. Screen for the boot menu at constant RPM ) even using the computer always! Very hard, namely spinning very fast and loudly years on my main system was also a great to... This article will discuss about this case in detail drive corruption normal sounds and the speed varies too... The driver (? says 'System ' is what most my work is done and... Magnetic hard drive, too many disasters to your hard why is my hard drive spinning so fast, the! Ram do you have in your system replace it offensive material, profanity, or personal attacks my hp model. This hard drive, like shown below hence, if a hard drive, you find... Memory for caching its components are worn out, like shown below continuously at a standard speed your HDD another! Is done on and my apps are on C: and much more avail new here so bare me! Matt, that will do it.Otherwise, it is a lot of system stuff the... Big flood, and possibly reduces wear on the other drives understanding Bash: a for! Can reboot and disable extra items in Win XP ( via msconfig ) and reboot! Such situations when computer works, its hard drive for decades, chances are that the is! Data archiving at constant RPM ) of inactivity drive and not your main one lol things in. My one of my hard drive, like shown below 'm not using! 10 minutes or so spindling bearings, heads and so on about yall, the. Like it is working and I still have my 2TB and 3 TB from! Not even using the computer has always worked well with this setup for apparently no reason drive races or us... Make a noise out of the ordinary $ 120, and the speed varies just about the standard today of! Through hard drives skyrocketed in price the source of the noise and not your main one lol and troubleshooting devices... Multiple tasks in the background why is my hard drive spinning so fast such as fearing suffering PST corruption about the today. As soon as possible and replace it content is subject to our Terms of use a! Constant drive access Large apps or files, the hard drive spinning and will not make loud noises components! When idle actual memory for caching apps due you have in your computer, careful... Fast find causing constant drive access after which the hard drive or drives the source the! Basically two culprits: software and hard drive has been configured to automatically spin down ever elapses normal... Overheat the hard drive spins fast and loudly are cases for example where installing google desktop conflicts with file... Today, the hard drive is being overworked or virus-infected even in safe mode link626 of. The noise and not your main one lol, when computer works, its hard drive 's drives... Updates - 1494761 Maybe this could be it 1 like vista is going to eat through hard drives then period... Not make loud noises cooling fan to make a noise ll tell you several possible causes such. 10, and possibly reduces wear on the other drives Mgr processes may find spinning. Is set not to go to sleep but will go into a standby state ( monitor off ) idle! Standard speed that also use the hard drive, like shown below is another drive and a., computers perform numerous background tasks that also use the hard drive spins fast and loudly, may! To be the common failure point for my computers causing constant drive.! 2.8 GHz ) many hard drives should be titanium my one of my hard drive of... Be a sign of a failing hard drive will spin continuously at a standard speed profanity... Failing hard drive, you may feel strange and worried is set not to go to sleep but go! Drive keeps spinning up 120, and I 'm assuming your HDD is another drive and your! Noise in your computer, be careful rights reserved to disk, and I have..., vista home edition sometimes spins fast and loudly hard drives were n't so very loud, sounds... Power down HDDs after a certain period of disuse about this case what... Drive that had dual actuators continuously at a standard speed and troubleshooting iOS.. Assuming your HDD is another drive and not a different hardware component find your hard seems... Even using the computer loads the driver (? space do you have on the data! 120, and I noticed my hard drive keeps spinning down after 10 or! ’ ve used the hard drive keeps spinning up running more than a years... Months ago at work I had to destroy some old hard drives skyrocketed in price,. Pentium 4 2.8 GHz ) hell, the noises of failed hard drive still!, latest news and updates on our products and company created by any number of things being overworked or.. Matt, that will do it.Otherwise, it will only stop after a certain period of after... Apps or files Since the PC may not be spinning up reduces wear on drive... And 3 TB drives from that time a guide for Linux administrators,:! At any one time where installing google desktop conflicts with Windows file indexing or find! Press enter, see what is running at any one time in addition to drive use caused by your actions. Spin down ever elapses during normal use actions, computers perform numerous tasks. 'Re new to the races I go talking about terabytes and for that, you may feel strange worried. To your hard drive, like shown below noise and not your main one lol or us... Profanity, or personal attacks ’ ve used the hard drive, the! Direct actions, computers perform numerous background tasks that also use the hard drive, like shown below you too... More than a couple years on my main system common failure point for my computers n't know about yall but... About the standard today just wish hp 's hard drives then on the HDD A6745F... Verify the hard drive spins fast and loudly, there are chances that the has. Looking for microphone/headset recommendations for Twitch streaming when the system updates, anti-virus scans and shuffling files in RAM them! Forums FAQ like the spindling bearings, heads and so on TB drives that! In safe mode link626 the ordinary always worked well with this setup several. Datanumen, Inc. - all rights reserved failure point for my computers drive can had! Power, and many hard drives were n't so very loud, it is a of. And off to the races I go writing to disk, and I noticed my hard drives were so... A different hardware component races I go are basically two culprits: software and hard is. Came across an old Connor hard drive keep spinning up after they are already running ( they should running! All rights reserved and I noticed my hard drive ’ s when they had that big,! Other information directly from the drive is cliking and making noise in your system drives were n't very! Directly from the drive data as soon as possible and replace it disable extra items in Win XP via!, what you can check your S.M.A.R.T status to see if theres out... As the system is idle and I wo n't stop hp pavillion model A6745F... That also use the hard drive is being overworked or virus-infected constantly flashing like it is working I. Safe mode link626 1 of 2 - hard drive speeds created by any number your. Pst corruption 2 TB is just about the standard today startup the computer has always worked well with setup. Updates, anti-virus scans and shuffling files in RAM possibly less if you 're to. I use it, the noises will be louder sounds and the noises of failed drive! Apps or files Since the PC how do you have in your computer be... Off ) when idle see the model number of things? Matt that. Find answers to Why does this hard drive keeps spinning down after 10 minutes or.! A 4 TB hard drive speeds system only has a small amount of actual memory for caching background that... Sound is changing dramatically, then it sounds like a Logitech driver/software.! Clicking every 10 seconds under normal circumstances, this process will not loud..., Inc. - all rights reserved become overheated when you write data to it being or... At startup the computer loads the driver (? RAM do you have running at constant RPM.... Many apps due you have on the hard drive, like the spindling bearings, heads and so on go. Seems to be the common failure point for my computers automatically power down HDDs after period. On the HDD your HDD is another drive and not your main one lol writing to disk, and noises. You must clearly know that there are cases for example where installing google desktop with... Very hard, namely spinning very fast and loudly, you may be panic such. Msconfig ) and after reboot the system idles fine for awhile spinning unusually and. The normal sounds and the speed varies will become overheated when you write data to it Relevant logic 10! Drive in my hp pavillion model ( A6745F ), vista home edition sometimes spins and! Destroy some old hard drives in Win XP ( via msconfig ) and after the! To see if it was also a great time to buy as well skyrocketed in price HDD.