# Laptop making occasional 'squeak' sound?



## PM1234 (22 Apr 2008)

I have a Dell Inspiron which is about a year old.  It has started to make an occasional noise which is like a squeak sound similar to a fork being run lightly across a plate (I can't think of a better way to describe it ) 

It seems to come from where the cable is connected to the laptop (but I could be wrong here). It happens about once every two/three hours and lasts about five seconds.

Its usually plugged into the wall socket so its charged all the time. I don't think that the noise is from the fan as that is more of a whirring sound. 

Would anyone have any idea what this could be and how I can prevent it happening? 

Many thanks


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## Blueberry08 (22 Apr 2008)

PM1234 said:


> I have a Dell Inspiron which is about a year old.  It has started to make an occasional noise which is like a squeak sound similar to a fork being run lightly across a plate (I can't think of a better way to describe it )
> 
> It seems to come from where the cable is connected to the laptop (but I could be wrong here). It happens about once every two/three hours and lasts about five seconds.
> 
> ...



I'm not sure if this is the same problem but strange sounds started coming out of my Dell Inspiron a few months ago and at first I had no notion what they were. It's hard to describe them, not so much squeaks, more a brief, intermittent grinding sound - a bit like what I do with my teeth at night 

Then I guessed it was the beginning of the end of my hard drive, it just sounded like it was coming from that direction. The sounds, gradually, became much more regular and with that the laptop began to slow up - at times it would just freeze and I could do nothing with it, but then it would be okay for a spell.

Any way, in the end the hard drive _did_ give up, and my Dell is no more. Luckily I had everything I needed taken off it in time.

This mightn't be your problem at all, but in case it is make sure you back up anything important on your laptop.

I never discovered the cause of this, although a computer-expert friend guessed that because I often literally used the laptop on my lap the fan(s) might have been blocked, causing everything to heat up too much. True enough, the bottom of the laptop used to get _very_ hot at times. 

I replaced the Dell with a MacBook and life has been wonderful ever since!


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## wavejumper (22 Apr 2008)

I would go with what the previous poster said and do a full back up of your important files.  There's a very good chance that the platters in the HD might be damaged.  

If you have some self diagnostic tool installed on the laptop I would give them a spin to see if they spot any imminent HW failure.

Do your backup before running the diagnostics.  Good luck.


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## zag (22 Apr 2008)

Squeaking coming from your laptop ?

Maybe your mouse is hungry.

Sorry, couldn't help it . . .

z


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## sam h (22 Apr 2008)

Is it still under warranty?  You will get telephone support even if it is outside warranty so I would call them and see what Dell say. In the meantime, back up your entire hard drive.


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## PM1234 (22 Apr 2008)

zag said:


> Squeaking coming from your laptop ?
> 
> Maybe your mouse is hungry.
> 
> ...



LOL 

Think I've the same problem as you had Blueberry. I use the laptop literally on my lap and it does overheat (and my solution was to put it on a cushion ). 

I'll dig out the warranty and contact Dell and backup my files in the meantime. No doubt I'll be back asking how to do that next! 

Thanks a mill for your replies.


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## Blueberry08 (23 Apr 2008)

PM1234 said:


> Think I've the same problem as you had Blueberry. I use the laptop literally on my lap and it does overheat (and my solution was to put it on a cushion ).



Are you sure you aren't me? I put it on a cushion for a while too and wondered why I burnt my fingers every time I picked it up. I didn't admit this to my computer-expert friend, I was much too embarrassed. 



PM1234 said:


> I'll dig out the warranty and contact Dell and backup my files in the meantime. No doubt I'll be back asking how to do that next!



I just bought the biggest capacity memory stick I could find, stuck it in the USB thingie in the laptop and copied everything on to it - and then transferred it to my desktop. 

Best of luck with it.


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