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Why the Hard Drive Making Noises and How to Fix It

Here you will find out:

  • why the hard drive is clicking
  • how to fix the issue
  • how DiskInternals can help you

Are you ready? Let's read

Is your hard drive clicking?

Hard drive is clicking

If you hear your hard drive making a noise, which was not there before, and you want to figure out what’s the matter, you may be too late!

A clicking noise suggests that the moving parts of the hard drive will soon become unusable.

Simply put, you will lose the disk and all the information on it.

To prevent this, read this article.

Why the hard drive is making noise

Problems can occur with any part of the hard drive:

  • Read heads
  • Spindle
  • Bearings
  • Magnetic heads

Problems affecting the hard drive can include:

  • Servo marking damage: The device will try to read the information, and this process will result not only in long delays in the system but also a loud click.
  • Physical damage; for example, after a hard drive is dropped or knocked over.
  • Hard drive overheating is also common, especially in older computers.
  • In some cases, hard drive clicking may be caused by the cable to which the drive is connected.
  • Power surges.

Method 1. If the computer or external storage was physically damaged

If the hard drive clicking - the damage of it can be a reason

If there was any damage to the computer (due to a crash, bump, or something else), then perhaps this could be the cause of this sound; or maybe there is a connection problem. Check the wires: is there any damage to them and are they connected correctly?

If there is physical damage, do not try to fix it yourself, as this can further aggravate the situation. If the drive is physically damaged, then you will need a new hard drive. Most likely, you need to recover data from the old disk — and there is good news!

In this article, just below, you’ll find the best way to recover data quickly for free and with high quality.

Method 2. Try a different connection

If the external hard drive clicks and you cannot access it, try connecting it to another PC. It may work, or it may not, but it’s definitely worth a try. If this works, then create a disk image or restore data from it.

Method 3. Create a disk image of this disk

If your internal or external hard drive clicks, you need to create a hard disk image.

Why? Because otherwise, you may lose your data.

If you have a disk image, you can always get back your data anytime, anywhere. You never know how long your hard drive will last after it starts clicking: an hour, or several months. So be sure that you have a backup.

If you need to recover some data from the drive, do it now (it’s better to do it after you have created the disk image and, especially, from the disk image).

DiskInternals Partition Recovery will help you with these goals. The application has been on the market for more than 15 years and has established itself as a professional first-class tool for reading data, data recovery, and creating disk images. You can restore any kind of files: photos, music, videos, documents, email, etc. All this can be done for free; a license is required only for exporting data to external or internal storage. DiskInternals Partition Recovery also has a Recovery Wizard, a free preview, and many more additional free options.

Creating a disk image is a great option when you hear a hard drive clicking since the disk image can be stored for unlimited time and you may use it only if necessary. In addition, this option is free in DiskInternals Partition Recovery.

Choose the necessary recovery option and get to work.

Method 4. Dispose of old hard drive or have it professionally repaired

In the end, there are two solutions for a hard drive clicking:

  • If you have all the necessary data (you’ve restored it, made a disk image or was backed up beforehand), you can replace the hard drive and dispose of the old one.
  • If you do not have all the data, or you do not want to lose it and get rid of the hard drive, take it to repair service.

Choose the solution suitable for you before it’s too late to fix something.

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