unwanted clicking noise

[Guest]

whenever my computer is on, even if i'm not using it, i get a clicking noise
like a mouse click, is this normal, or is it a sign of a problem? i have my
sons computer on my home network but its not on now. i also am using yahoo
dsl for my internet connection, sometimes its a single click, sometimes its a
dbl click, very annoying, its doing it right now as im typing and i havn't
touched my mouse, its almost like someone is clicking on items in my computer
without my knowledge in the background or something, any help would be
appreciated, thanks

 

[Doug Kanter]

whenever my computer is on, even if i'm not using it, i get a clicking
noise
like a mouse click, is this normal, or is it a sign of a problem? i have
my
sons computer on my home network but its not on now. i also am using yahoo
dsl for my internet connection, sometimes its a single click, sometimes
its a
dbl click, very annoying, its doing it right now as im typing and i havn't
touched my mouse, its almost like someone is clicking on items in my
computer
without my knowledge in the background or something, any help would be
appreciated, thanks

Is this clicking coming from the speakers? Or, is it some sort of mechanical
thing from within the machine itself? Turn off your speakers to find out.

 

[Ed Cayce]

Malcolm, you should run some scans to make sure you don't have some
sort of Ad-clicker trojan/virus/spyware. Use a virus scanner (Norton,
McAffee, etc.) and also a spyware-scanner such as Ad-Aware or the like.


I have seen systems before where a hidden trojan has taken over and is
secretly "clicking" on banner ads - and Internet Explorer is making the
click noises.

 

[Newfdog]

whenever my computer is on, even if i'm not using it, i get a clicking noise
like a mouse click, is this normal, or is it a sign of a problem? i have my
sons computer on my home network but its not on now. i also am using yahoo
dsl for my internet connection, sometimes its a single click, sometimes its a
dbl click, very annoying, its doing it right now as im typing and i havn't
touched my mouse, its almost like someone is clicking on items in my computer
without my knowledge in the background or something, any help would be
appreciated, thanks

If the clicking noise is coming from the computer itself your harddrive
may be on the way out. Be sure everything is backed up.

Newfdog

 

[Anna]

Is this clicking coming from the speakers? Or, is it some sort of
mechanical thing from within the machine itself? Turn off your speakers to
find out.

Malcolm, you should run some scans to make sure you don't have some
sort of Ad-clicker trojan/virus/spyware. Use a virus scanner (Norton,
McAffee, etc.) and also a spyware-scanner such as Ad-Aware or the like.


I have seen systems before where a hidden trojan has taken over and is
secretly "clicking" on banner ads - and Internet Explorer is making the
click noises.

Malcolm:
In addition to the info you received from Doug & Ed...

Clicking-type noises frequently emanate from a hard drive that's defective.
As a matter of fact it's a rather common occurrence involving a drive that's
about to fail. So make sure that you back up your important files and
download the hard drive diagnostic utility from the website of the
manufacturer of the HD and test the drive. Do this as soon as possible.
Anna

 

[Doug Kanter]

Malcolm:
In addition to the info you received from Doug & Ed...

Clicking-type noises frequently emanate from a hard drive that's
defective. As a matter of fact it's a rather common occurrence involving a
drive that's about to fail. So make sure that you back up your important
files and download the hard drive diagnostic utility from the website of
the manufacturer of the HD and test the drive. Do this as soon as
possible.
Anna

Or, if he wants something serious, spend a few bucks and buy SpinRite. A
classic piece of beautiful software that does exactly what it claims:
http://grc.com/spinrite.htm

 

[Newfdog]

Or, if he wants something serious, spend a few bucks and buy SpinRite. A
classic piece of beautiful software that does exactly what it claims:
http://grc.com/spinrite.htm

Software cannot compensate for a harddrive that is failing mechanically.

Newfdog

 

[Spikey]

whenever my computer is on, even if i'm not using it, i get a clicking
noise
like a mouse click,

If its coming through the speakers it could also be caused by something like
Norton Systemworks ( or other) using "connection keep alive".

Its designed for dial-up to stop the connection dropping by sending a small
amount of info to a designated site and should detect if you are on
broadband and switch itself off. Sometimes you have to do it manually. It
will make the same click that you get when a web page opens.

 

[Doug Kanter]

Software cannot compensate for a harddrive that is failing mechanically.

Newfdog

That wasn't suggested. However, I've seen some diagnostic software from
drive manufacturers which didn't tell you much. Spinrite is quite a bit
better than the freebies in terms of providing useful information.