I have been hearing this strange sound coming from somewhere inside my computer for about a month or so. I cannot seem to isolate where it is coming from. It sounds as if something is resetting itself (click). It only makes one clicking sound. I haven't timed the intervals between clicks, but they are somewhat far apart. At first, I thought it might be my hard drive starting to malfunction, or the video card, or the motherboard, but nothing out of the ordinary happens. Whenever the click happens, nothing surges, nor do I lose any info or application. It also happens when the computer is shut down. I want to think that it may be the PS getting ready to slowly die. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi pob,
Firstly, I'd like to welcome to CompuForums - it's good to have you here. I hope you will be on the board for a long time, and if there is anything I can do to make your experience better please let me know. We are here to help you, so it would be appreciated if you could help us by posting in threads as well as your own. By doing so, you are helping to keep this site running in the future, and we will respond to your thread faster too. If you can't help us, then we can't help you.

This is most likley to be your hard drive - they're the first moving component to make various noises. The easiest way to diagnose this would be to run on a spare hard drive for a while, and see if you still hear the noise. It'd be a good idea to image it's contents to another drive, if it is failing. Alternativley it may be the PSU as you said, but you'd probably notice some sort of effect if it is. Another thing could be a failed fan trying to start somewhere in your machine.

How long have you had the computer - is it self built or did you buy it premade?

__________________
Thanks,
Ash
CF Founder
Great Webhosting. Shared starting at $2 per month. VPSes starting at $6 per month.
www.Centicero.com
Want to get in touch? Send me a PM | Do you want to continue receiving free help? Or do you want this site to close? Become a premium member.

I'd put my money on the PSU. I had the exact same thing happen to one of my old comps. A strange clicking and then, BAM, no power one day. I'd run some diagnostics on you HDD to make sure, though. If you are not sure what to do, don't be afraid to take it into a repair shop. If things get worse you could end up replacing a lot more than just your HDD/PSU.

I'd be willing to guess a Power Supply as well. They have relays large enough to make a nice CLICK sound. Could it be the Hard Drive? Sure. So It never hurts to back-up your Data.

Instead of asking when it clicks by timing. What is the computer (you) doing when it happens? Are you doing some intensive Read/Writes on the hard drive? (database work, installing, ripping music/videos)

How is the power working in your area? Is it stable? Is it reliable? Do the lights flicker/dim when the Air Handlers kick on? If so, consider getting an external UPS.

Which brings up a different question. Do you use a UPS? If so, it's kicking in to supply power to the computer (or even into charge or diagnostic modes).

My guess is that somewhere in the power system, you have instability. This causes the power supply relays to fire creating a click. If there is a UPS, it could be that part switching into its different modes (supply, charge or diagnosis/test).

Just my first thoughts.

well ive had the same issue before in both hard drives and power supplys... so you probably wont know untill something dies ... and even if it isint the hard drive it is still smart to make backups... there are 2 kinds of computer user ... people who have lost data and people who will loose data

i would also suggest your psu or hdd.

__________________





Welcome to CompuForums!
Please read the Rules before posting.
If you have any problems with a post or member, Notify me!