Hardisk is making ticking sound

[tahir4awan]

I have Dell 280 Optiplex PC. Due to voltage fluctuation my PC shut down. When I started it again it started well but when windows opened it restarted and it kept on restarting after few minutes. I thought it was a power supply issue but when I looked my motherboard three capacitors were busted. I replaced these capacitors. The PC ran fine but my sata hardisk started to make ticking noise at startup so I restated it again so it didn't make sound again.
I mean when I starts PC hardisk makes noise and when I restart it again it runs. The hardisk does this every time. Also after windows opens PC restarts.

I have a lot of data on my hardisk. I don't know is it motherboard, power supply or hardsik issue. Can someone sort out this problem?

[kc8adu]

Re: Hardisk is making ticking sound

back it up NOW!
soon it may die.
ticking hdd is not good.

[jetadm123]

Re: Hardisk is making ticking sound

disregard

[jetadm123]

Re: Hardisk is making ticking sound

You should back up your data ASAP like kc8adu suggested. The problem will only get worse to the point where the drive fails and you'll lose your data. A similar probem like yours happened to me this past week. My hard drive starting making occasional ticking sounds and then the screen froze up. I shut down the computer, restarted it and fortunately it came back up. I immediately looked for my spare hard drive, then went to the hard drive manufacturer's website and downloaded and installed their free image copying software. I powered down the computer, installed the spare drive, restarted and used the software to create a duplicate image of the main hard drive onto the spare drive. Replaced the main drive with the spare and I was back in business.

[Aikiotto]

Re: Hardisk is making ticking sound

Jetadm123 advice is excellent , first thing you should do is stop using the faulty drive as your boot or system drive , get a second drive or a new one if you can afford it install the OS then connect the faulty one as secondary , get all your data out now , dont wait and see what might happen.

Once you do that it might be worth checking the Controller (pcb)from the suspicious drive for any visible damage.

[severach]

Re: Hardisk is making ticking sound

Drives are treacherous. Here today, gone tomorrow. When it fails any backup you've made suddenly becomes very valuable.

I grab a Ghost image of failing drives as soon as possible.

[Moinaldo]

Re: Hardisk is making ticking sound

I have had some seagate drives that were ticking and lasted long after that, but as many have adviced you, you should back up your data asap, and if the drive is under warranty RMA.