PC HDD is making loud noise when shutting down

Every time my HDD turns off - whether because I shut down my PC or Windows turns the HDD itself due to Power Plan settings - it makes a clicking noise, similar to the sound of fan lightly hitting a cable. I really can't remember when did this start. Is this normal or a sign of incoming drive failure? I do have backups.

[UPDATE]

Recording - the noise I'm concerned about occurs at about 6 seconds in. Also at about 4-6 seconds regular operating sound of the HDD in question is audible at higher volumes. Background sound is my PC's frontal fan running.

Dralax

Posted 2013-07-12T11:04:31.297

Reputation: 41

2If it's just one click then it's probably just the read/write heads parking/unparking which is supposed to happen. Still, if it has suddenly got a lot louder then it could be a bad sign and if you are getting multiple loud clicks in quick succession then I would start to worry. – James P – 2013-07-12T11:57:29.960

Does it sound similar to this?

– Jason Bristol – 2013-07-12T12:31:42.510

1Nowhere near that and it's just a single click. I've checked several "HDD failing" noises on the internet and none sounded like mine. I guess I should just record it and post that. Would it be ok with superuser's rules to repost the problem once I get the recording? – Dralax – 2013-07-12T12:42:19.180

1No, it would be a duplicate, just edit this question. – who.knows – 2013-07-12T13:13:37.980

You might want to run any HDD diagnosis tool capable of retrieving SMART information from the disk (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.). If the drive is broken, chances are that the SMART status will tell.

– Zero3 – 2013-07-24T03:20:32.313

I've checked SMART before asking this question and all was fine. – Dralax – 2013-07-24T13:56:22.957

Answers

-1

If you have important data on your hard drive, then back it up immediately. Hard drives should never have a noticeable click, period. I'm not saying it is going to go anytime soon, but its not worth the risk. If you need to hold out on getting it a new drive, then at least make sure the most important information is safe.

Renegade91127

Posted 2013-07-12T11:04:31.297

Reputation: 17

2I can assure you it is fairly normal for a drive to make a clicking or clunking noise when the heads load/unload. On certain performance drives like a 3.5" Western Digital Black series it may be much more noticeable than on a quiet laptop drive. I would only be worried if the noise has changed. – James P – 2013-07-13T14:39:33.303

So you are saying that sitting at your desk you should hear clicking when a hard drive is inside a case with multiple fans spinning? That's kind of ridiculous. Perhaps if you have it an an enclosure nearby or your case is open and you are checking things out, but certainly you should not hear noises under normal operations. – Renegade91127 – 2013-07-18T00:41:57.650

My point was that most disks will make that noise; whether or not you will be able to hear it over the noise of fans/background noise is another matter. Certainly I can hear it very easily on a MacBook Pro despite the fact that the hard drive is generally almost silent, simply because the laptop is virtually silent. The OP doesn't say what specific setup they have. – James P – 2013-07-18T15:01:47.667

I've finally got the recording and added it to the original post. Regarding my setup: it is rather quiet when idle. I can actually hear the HDD's normal operation and I'm now starting to wonder if that's abnormal as well. – Dralax – 2013-07-18T18:03:17.313