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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.
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 – 2013-07-12T12:31:42.5101Nowhere 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 – 2013-07-24T03:20:32.313I've checked SMART before asking this question and all was fine. – Dralax – 2013-07-24T13:56:22.957