PRIMARY HARD DRIVE RUMBLE

[Sam]

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 computer with windows XP Pro (SP2) and all
current security upgrades. I also have NAV 2006, BoClean, ZAPRO, and
Spywareblaster installed as well. When first booting up the computer or
when downloading an update from such web sites as NAV or Microsoft Update,
the primary HD makes a muffled rumbling sound. After the download is
complete, the HD is pretty quite except you can hear a periodic low rumble
noise. I keep checking the even viewer daily and run the Chkdsk
periodically but I have not see any errors so far, and the computer seems
very stable as well.

Is there supposed to be some level of HD noise when there is some moderate
to heavy data activity? Any suggestions as to what else that I might check
out for the HD? Thanks for any help, Sam.

 

[R. McCarty]

Drives require a "Firm/Tight" mounting in the cage or bracket. Most
modern drives are very quiet and don't have much in the way access
noise. Many drives offer Acoustical settings ( a trade off between
speed and noise ) but the option varies depending on which vendor
drive you have.
All that being said any "Noticeable" noise from a hard drive is cause
for concern. You probably should get a tool that will allow you to
check the SMART statistics on the drive. Speed Fan 4.31 will show
you this information if your motherboard/drive supports it.
http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

 

[Sam]

Thanks very much for your reply. I should have noted that I periodically
run the HD Tune program and so far, have not seen any problems with the
primary or secondary HDs. As to the recommended Speed Fan program, not long
ago I read somewhere on the internet that older Dell mother boards would not
provide such values as temperatures, etc.. However, I will go ahead and
install the Speed Fan program and see what it provides. I should note that
weekly I am accomplishing a full primary partition image backup and critical
data files backup as well. Thanks again, Sam.

 

[R. McCarty]

Sounds like you're well prepared/covered for most eventualities.

 

[...winston]

Look in the bios, if the motherboard has a speed fan control the bios normally(look under power options main or a submenu) also would contain settings to autodetect/enable/disable monitoring for cpu temperature, motherboard temperature, and fan speed settings. Fan speed settings may also have an option to vary the fan speed as a function of full speed based on a hardware characteristics.
Some OEM supplied motherboards even though similar in brand to retail mobos do not have this feature(excluded or wires not connected etc).

..winston

: Thanks very much for your reply. I should have noted that I periodically
: run the HD Tune program and so far, have not seen any problems with the
: primary or secondary HDs. As to the recommended Speed Fan program, not long
: ago I read somewhere on the internet that older Dell mother boards would not
: provide such values as temperatures, etc.. However, I will go ahead and
: install the Speed Fan program and see what it provides. I should note that
: weekly I am accomplishing a full primary partition image backup and critical
: data files backup as well. Thanks again, Sam.
:
:
: : > Drives require a "Firm/Tight" mounting in the cage or bracket. Most
: > modern drives are very quiet and don't have much in the way access
: > noise. Many drives offer Acoustical settings ( a trade off between
: > speed and noise ) but the option varies depending on which vendor
: > drive you have.
: > All that being said any "Noticeable" noise from a hard drive is cause
: > for concern. You probably should get a tool that will allow you to
: > check the SMART statistics on the drive. Speed Fan 4.31 will show
: > you this information if your motherboard/drive supports it.
: > http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php
:
:

 

[Sam]

Thanks, Sam

 

[Sam]

Thanks for your reply. Will look at the at the bios tonight. If my memory
is correct, I think I checked this once before but did not find anything
about temperature control and fan settings. Lets hope my memory is wrong!
Sam.


Look in the bios, if the motherboard has a speed fan control the bios
normally(look under power options main or a submenu) also would contain
settings to autodetect/enable/disable monitoring for cpu temperature,
motherboard temperature, and fan speed settings. Fan speed settings may
also have an option to vary the fan speed as a function of full speed based
on a hardware characteristics.
Some OEM supplied motherboards even though similar in brand to retail mobos
do not have this feature(excluded or wires not connected etc).