XP program or the Hard drive

[Guest]

Hello,

Have you heard of this before?

When booting and shutting down my computer makes some “scratching noisesâ€
(twice upon startup as icons boot up not during the dell or XP loading screen
and once on the shut down).

Obviously no big deal it’s a dell and to be expected with there quality.
However its getting a little louder now, which is fine its two years old or
my hearing is getting better.

But I wanted to know if its might be a software issue or I should get a new
hard drive. I back up my files. But is the hard drive on its way to
retirement? I ran scan disk, disk defrag, antivirus, disk clean up, anti spy
ware all signs ok…any other program or clean tool I should know about and try?

I recorded the noise on an audio clip if anyone is interested in hearing it.
Like I said not from mother board but the hard drive. Narrowed it down
because I don’t start up with the A drive or my zip drive or the CD drive and
that only thing in that area is the hard drive

Thanks again,

l

 

[Malke]

Hello,

Have you heard of this before?

When booting and shutting down my computer makes some ?scratching
noises? (twice upon startup as icons boot up not during the dell or XP
loading screen and once on the shut down).

Obviously no big deal it?s a dell and to be expected with there
quality. However its getting a little louder now, which is fine its
two years old or my hearing is getting better.

But I wanted to know if its might be a software issue or I should get
a new hard drive. I back up my files. But is the hard drive on its way
to retirement? I ran scan disk, disk defrag, antivirus, disk clean up,
anti spy ware all signs ok?any other program or clean tool I should
know about and try?

I recorded the noise on an audio clip if anyone is interested in
hearing it. Like I said not from mother board but the hard drive.
Narrowed it down because I don?t start up with the A drive or my zip
drive or the CD drive and that only thing in that area is the hard
drive

Thanks again,

l

It is normal for hard drives to make some small noises. If your hard
drive is making new and/or louder noises, you can check it with a
diagnostic utility downloaded from the drive mftr.'s website. Usually
you will download the file and make a bootable floppy with it. Boot
with the media and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical
errors, contact Dell to replace it. If the test shows nothing wrong,
you haven't hurt anything but will have some confidence in your
hardware. In any case, make sure you back up your data on a regular
basis.

Malke

 

[Plato]

When booting and shutting down my computer makes some “scratching noisesâ€
(twice upon startup as icons boot up not during the dell or XP loading screen
and once on the shut down).

Could be trying to access the floppy drive.

 

[Scott]

When my hard drive started failing on my Dell, I received an onscreen
message that the Dell disk manager, I think it was called, had
detected there was a problem with it and for me to contact Dell for
replacement. The drive appeared to be running fine from my point of
view. Not sure if all Dell's have this installed but I know mine did
and they replaced it immediately.

 

[Paul]

When my hard drive started failing on my Dell, I received an onscreen
message that the Dell disk manager, I think it was called, had
detected there was a problem with it and for me to contact Dell for

If your machine is under warranty then I would get them to replace the
drive. Sounds like the Dell diags has detected that the drive in eminent
danger of failing. The fact that it is "Dell Disk Manager" reporting the
problem gives you ammunition to substantiate your warranty claim.

 

[Al Smith]

Hello,

Have you heard of this before?

When booting and shutting down my computer makes some “scratching noisesâ€
(twice upon startup as icons boot up not during the dell or XP loading screen
and once on the shut down).

Set about getting a replacement for your harddrive now, before it
fails completely. Once it fails completely, you may not be able to
get your personal data off the drive, which means you may be
reluctant about wrapping it up and shipping it off to Dell in
order to get a replacement.