PC hard drives shut off and start "clicking" at random times

Hi,

I just built my own pc from scratch, worked great for 3 days then out of nowhere I went to turn it on and both sata HDDs would not power up and just sat there making a clicking sound. If I keep trying over and over it will eventually work but even when xp is running both of them can power down att random intervals freezing the os so i need to manually pull the plug and start over.

Sometimes my pc works fine and stays on for a whole day without a bother, then i turn it off a night, come back to turn it on and that same clicking noise in both HDDs occurs. I can hear them trying to start up but failing, or even if i leave them clicking away for a while (which isn't good) they will eventually or at least one will eventually power up.

BIOS tells me my 12v supply is down too low at 9.9-10.2v and is colored in red. And when I hear them boot up from the moment i push the power button, I quickly go to my bios and see the voltage as 10.9-11.9v and coloured in blue for ok.

Is this the PSU? I have notified komplett and am cosidering a replacement on the psu, just wanted a 2nd opinion.


Thanks people!

A clicking HD is generally a very bad sign. First thing to do is back up any data and then replace the HD. Even if the PSU was not working correctly, the HD should not make any clicking noise.

Sounds like the PSU to me.

If it was me (and it has been in the past) I would get a similar (possibly bigger) replacement drive and clone the one that sounds like it might be failing - ASAP!

Isn't a 'clicking' drive usually a drive thats about to fail?

serotoninsid said:

Isn't a 'clicking' drive usually a drive thats about to fail?

Click to expand...

Usually, but can also indicate that the drive isn't getting enough power.

Its almost certainly a power issue. In theory you can add devices as far as you can fit them but in practice it will dilute the power and cause failure. Remove one and try again. Note not all drives consume the same power.

sfag said:

Its almost certainly a power issue. In theory you can add devices as far as you can fit them but in
practice it will dilute the power and cause failure. Remove one and try again. Note not all drives consume the same power.

Click to expand...

I only have two hardrives and a 750W psu, that should be more than enough power to run my pc.

I tried removing one at a time but no difference.Sometimes when i go to start my pc for the 1st time in the day, the fans spin a bit then fail and nothing starts, this happens over and over until i just keep trying and eventually it starts up.

Also sometimes when running my pc if a disk shuts off and i wait i can hear it trying to reboot and sometimes it does so I can continue on using my pc as normal. Strange.

The thing im wondering is is the mobo has ability to shut off disks? The only thing they are connected to is the psu and then a sata data cable to the mobo. So it can only be the psu that is guilty of shutting them off imo.

Thanks for your replies guys!

Get the drive make and model details and then get the manufacturer's low level drive fitness test/diagnostic software and test the unit. Something like UBCD might also be useful.

Replace the power supply

Sorry know nothing about computers, but did you say you built it from scratch? Why?

DavyJones said:

Sorry know nothing about computers, but did you say you built it from scratch? Why?

Click to expand...

Tired of the generic Dell pcs, never catered for my liking anyway. They give you what they want to give you and their pcs are harder to upgrade. I also wanted a bigger case to fit more stuff in. Dell don't seem to allow you to buy their pcs without an OS either or without certain hardware so it's useless for a pc gamer, video editor like me.

Pre builds are great for an office use pc and also seem to last for years without any major hardware problems.

Wow, fair play. I can't help, but be impressed.