Odd hard disk sounds with Ultimate 64 bit

The first time I heard this, it totally spooked me - it sounded as if my HD
was dying. It was the noticeable "click" you get that is typically followed
by the whine of a dying HD. A better description would be the click of the
disks shutting down when you turn off the computer. I get it at random times
when running Vista.
I know it's not a bad disk, as I'm also using it in a dual-boot
configuration with XP home, and I don't experience it when running XP.
I've checked the power management features and set the disks to on all the
time, and that didn't correct it. I highly doubt it is the drivers.
I'm running an Abit IP35PRO with a Seagate SATA w/ perp recording. Getting
rid of that sound would make running Vista a much more satisfying experience.
Well, fixing the sign-in issue with Live messenger, the sidebar & 3D apps,
the slow start up.... :P

Hi,

How do you know it's not a dying drive? Have you run a drive diagnostic tool
from the manufacturer on it?

The sound is particular to the drive, not Vista, so there's nothing you are
going to be able to do in Windows to make it disappear. I would be more
concerned about impending failure and backing up any data contained on it.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Peanya" <Peanya@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:280F3DD1-02DD-40DA-AF2F-D45FB2F77B70@microsoft.com...
> The first time I heard this, it totally spooked me - it sounded as if my
> HD
> was dying. It was the noticeable "click" you get that is typically
> followed
> by the whine of a dying HD. A better description would be the click of
> the
> disks shutting down when you turn off the computer. I get it at random
> times
> when running Vista.
> I know it's not a bad disk, as I'm also using it in a dual-boot
> configuration with XP home, and I don't experience it when running XP.
> I've checked the power management features and set the disks to on all the
> time, and that didn't correct it. I highly doubt it is the drivers.
> I'm running an Abit IP35PRO with a Seagate SATA w/ perp recording.
> Getting
> rid of that sound would make running Vista a much more satisfying
> experience.
> Well, fixing the sign-in issue with Live messenger, the sidebar & 3D apps,
> the slow start up.... :P

Peanya;499125 Wrote:
> The first time I heard this, it totally spooked me - it sounded as if my
> HD was dying. It was the noticeable "click" you get that is typically
> followed by the whine of a dying HD. A better description would be the
> click of the disks shutting down when you turn off the computer. I get
> it at random times when running Vista. I know it's not a bad disk, as
> I'm also using it in a dual-boot configuration with XP home, and I don't
> experience it when running XP. I've checked the power management
> features and set the disks to on all the time, and that didn't correct
> it. I highly doubt it is the drivers.
> I'm running an Abit IP35PRO with a Seagate SATA w/ perp recording.
> Getting rid of that sound would make running Vista a much more
> satisfying experience. Well, fixing the sign-in issue with Live
> messenger, the sidebar & 3D apps, the slow start up.... :P

Follow Ricks advice and make appropriate backups. One other possible
solution, as odd as it may seem for a 64 Bit OS, would be to check your
system BIOS settings. If a setting exists to enable/disable 32 Bit disk
access, make sure it is turned on.

I also experienced this issue, which was usually followed by a BSOD.
Setting the BIOS 32 Bit Disk Access to ON for all hard disks solved the
problem, and the click-churn-BSOD problem went away.


--
dzomlija

____________________________________
Peter Alexander Dzomlija
Do you hear, huh? The Alpha and The Omega? Death and Rebirth? And as
you die, so shall I be Reborn...

- ASUS A8N32-SLi-Deluxe
- AMD Atlon 64 Dual-Core 4800+
- 4GB DDR400
- ASUS nVidia 6600
- Thermaltake Tai-Chi Watercooled Chassis
- 1207GB Total Formatted Storage
- Vista Ultimate x64
- CodeGear Delphi 2007

The HD is fine. In XP with the SAME DRIVE, I do not get this encounter.
Also, having experienced dying hard disks in the past, when that sound
occurs, the system temporarily freezes up. It also lacks the whine sound
that a dying disk gives off.
I've been working with hardware for many years, and this is a first time
experience with what is occuring.

"dzomlija" wrote:

>
> Peanya;499125 Wrote:
> > The first time I heard this, it totally spooked me - it sounded as if my
> > HD was dying. It was the noticeable "click" you get that is typically
> > followed by the whine of a dying HD. A better description would be the
> > click of the disks shutting down when you turn off the computer. I get
> > it at random times when running Vista. I know it's not a bad disk, as
> > I'm also using it in a dual-boot configuration with XP home, and I don't
> > experience it when running XP. I've checked the power management
> > features and set the disks to on all the time, and that didn't correct
> > it. I highly doubt it is the drivers.
> > I'm running an Abit IP35PRO with a Seagate SATA w/ perp recording.
> > Getting rid of that sound would make running Vista a much more
> > satisfying experience. Well, fixing the sign-in issue with Live
> > messenger, the sidebar & 3D apps, the slow start up.... :P
>
> Follow Ricks advice and make appropriate backups. One other possible
> solution, as odd as it may seem for a 64 Bit OS, would be to check your
> system BIOS settings. If a setting exists to enable/disable 32 Bit disk
> access, make sure it is turned on.
>
> I also experienced this issue, which was usually followed by a BSOD.
> Setting the BIOS 32 Bit Disk Access to ON for all hard disks solved the
> problem, and the click-churn-BSOD problem went away.
>
>
> --
> dzomlija
>
> ____________________________________
> Peter Alexander Dzomlija
> Do you hear, huh? The Alpha and The Omega? Death and Rebirth? And as
> you die, so shall I be Reborn...
>
> - ASUS A8N32-SLi-Deluxe
> - AMD Atlon 64 Dual-Core 4800+
> - 4GB DDR400
> - ASUS nVidia 6600
> - Thermaltake Tai-Chi Watercooled Chassis
> - 1207GB Total Formatted Storage
> - Vista Ultimate x64
> - CodeGear Delphi 2007
>

Peanya;500986 Wrote:
> The HD is fine. In XP with the SAME DRIVE, I do not get this encounter.
> Also, having experienced dying hard disks in the past, when that sound
> occurs, the system temporarily freezes up. It also lacks the whine
> sound
> that a dying disk gives off.
> I've been working with hardware for many years, and this is a first
> time
> experience with what is occuring.
>
> "dzomlija" wrote:

Deja-Vu!

As I said, I experienced exactly the same symptoms in Vista x64. But
NOT when using Windows XP.

I tried many solutions, some of which pointed to incompatibilities
between the sound and display drivers! Nothing worked. Turning Power
Management didn't work. Updating my IDE controllers didn't work.
Clearing nad turning off my JBOD array didn't work.

The problem became so bad, that I could eventually predict what events
would cause the crash. Any kind if intense disk activity on that
particular drive would trigger the slowdown and BSOD, so I moved all the
data to another drive, just in case it WAS a pending hardware failure,
and for a brief time, I almost started believing the Vista naysayers
about how crap it was.

I can't really remmber why I went into my system BIOS, but I noticed
that 32-Bit Disk Access was turned off for the drive that was giving me
this problem. 32-Bit Disk Access was turned on for the others (I have 8
hard disks in my system). So I turned it on for the problem disk. It's
been more than a month now and I haven't experienced this problem.

Before writing this post, I tried a quick experiment, and turned 32-Bit
disk access off again for one of my hard disks. Upon rebooting, I
started a defrag on that drive, and about 10 minutes later I got the
slowdown and BSOD again. Turned 32-Bit Disk Access on, and the problem
went away. Again.

It seems crazy, but that's what solved the problem for me.

What you can do to be sure is to turn on SMART monitoring for your hard
disks (I've attached one to this post for you), and then run a tool to
report their status. If I've guessed correctly, SMART should report no
faults for your hard drives.

Go through every possible setting in your BIOS and check the 32-Bit
Disk Access settings. If one is available, you might also want to try a
BIOS update. Check with your motherboard manufacturer. You say this
problem doesn't occur with XP, you if you try this route, apply the BIOS
update via XP or a DOS Boot disk to prevent a crash from interrupting
the update.


+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: hddh.zip |
|Download: http://vista64.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1558|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

--
dzomlija

____________________________________
Peter Alexander Dzomlija
Do you hear, huh? The Alpha and The Omega? Death and Rebirth? And as
you die, so shall I be Reborn...

- ASUS A8N32-SLi-Deluxe
- AMD Atlon 64 Dual-Core 4800+
- 4GB DDR400
- ASUS nVidia 6600
- Thermaltake Tai-Chi Watercooled Chassis
- 1207GB Total Formatted Storage
- Vista Ultimate x64
- CodeGear Delphi 2007

"Rick Rogers" <rick@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:#DmPnNHHIHA.3956@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> How do you know it's not a dying drive? Have you run a drive diagnostic
> tool from the manufacturer on it?

I have the same problem with the clicking sound. I've run SpinRite on
the drive and it comes up clean.

If SpinRite can't find anything wrong then I have complete confidence that
there's really nothing physically wrong with the hard drive.

Tom Lake

Peanya;499125 Wrote:
> The first time I heard this, it totally spooked me - it sounded as if my
> HD
> was dying. It was the noticeable "click" you get that is typically
> followed
> by the whine of a dying HD. A better description would be the click of
> the
> disks shutting down when you turn off the computer. I get it at random
> times
> when running Vista.
> I know it's not a bad disk, as I'm also using it in a dual-boot
> configuration with XP home, and I don't experience it when running XP.
> I've checked the power management features and set the disks to on all
> the
> time, and that didn't correct it. I highly doubt it is the drivers.
> I'm running an Abit IP35PRO with a Seagate SATA w/ perp recording.
> Getting
> rid of that sound would make running Vista a much more satisfying
> experience.
> Well, fixing the sign-in issue with Live messenger, the sidebar & 3D
> apps,
> the slow start up.... :P

I have the same problem on a Drive with my IP35pro.
But I cant see in the bios where to turn on 32-bit access mode?
can you help?


--
duckdodgersuk

duckdodgersuk;507232 Wrote:
> I have the same problem on a Drive with my IP35pro. But I cant see in
> the bios where to turn on 32-bit access mode?
>
> can you help?

Not BIOS Setup Program have the same options. It depends heavily on who
created the BIOS. TBH, the reason it took me just over 3 weeks to solve
the problem on my side was because I at first also thought it was
hardware related.

The setting on my BIOS for 32-Bit Disk Access is hidden very deep, and
I have to go through 4 options just to get to it, which is also why I
didn't at first find it.

You'll maybe find it under HDD Options, but thats just a guess. As I
said, every BIOS is different.

There are a couple other things you can try, just to be sure it isn't
your hard disk that is failing:


- Contact your PC manufacturer for assistance in finding the BIOS
settings you're looking for, or a BIOS update that you could apply.
-*Updating your BIOS is a risky business at best, and should be done
with caution. If something goes wrong during the process, you could
end up turning your motherboard into a paperweight.*-
- If your BIOS supports it, enable the S.M.A.R.T (Self Monitoring And
Reporting Technology) option. The file I've attached to this post is a
utility that you can use to read the S.M.A.R.T data which will help
determine if the fault is the hard disk or not.
- A lower rated (or failing) power supply can also cause these
problems of "clicking" noises in a hard disk when it doesn't get
enough power because you're pushing the limit of the PSU. If it is
possible for you to do so, try a higher rated power supply. Ask a
qualified technitian to help you if you're not sure.
- As a last resort, plug your hard drive into another machine as a
slave drive to see if it delivers the same problems. Use caution in
doing this, as a single misstep can screw-up your Vista installation
on the drive. If you're even marginally unsure of how to this, then I
suggest you refer to your local computer dealer.Hope that helps.
Keep me posted on your progress.


--
dzomlija

____________________________________
Peter Alexander Dzomlija
Do you hear, huh? The Alpha and The Omega? Death and Rebirth? And as
you die, so shall I be Reborn...

- ASUS A8N32-SLi-Deluxe
- AMD Atlon 64 Dual-Core 4800+
- 4GB DDR400
- ASUS nVidia 6600
- Thermaltake Tai-Chi Watercooled Chassis
- 1207GB Total Formatted Storage
- Vista Ultimate x64
- CodeGear Delphi 2007http://dzomlija.spaces.live.com/