Computer Noise

[Denise]

This evening my computer has just started making a tapping kind of noise as I work and especially as I change documents or sites. Everything else seems normal. Is this OK, bad, BAD, or REAL BAD??? Anything I should check to see why it is doing it?

[HellfireJack]

Where is this noise coming from? Back of tower? CD Drive? Speakers? If from the speakers are other sounds playing normal?

[Denise]

Well, I guess it is OK. It was coming from the tower but I pulled it out from under the desk to hear better if it was coming from the back or the DVD drive at the front and it quit. ????? If it starts up again, I'll ask again. Jack, you make a great computer technician - fixing it from miles away with just a question!!

[reddevil76]

I have experienced this before, once on a Toshiba lap top. Once on a Fujitsu.

On the Toshiba, it was the hard drive giving out. One the Fujitsu, it was the cooling fan.

[Denise]

I was thinking it was more of what I would think of as a hard drive noise. At least it sounded like something that would tick as something was spinning and there was nothing in the CD drive. But it has stopped now. Why would it stop just with shifting the machine? Better make sure I have good backups done anyway I assume...

[Ferg]

I was thinking it was more of what I would think of as a hard drive noise. At least it sounded like something that would tick as something was spinning and there was nothing in the CD drive. But it has stopped now. Why would it stop just with shifting the machine? Better make sure I have good backups done anyway I assume...

I have been "messing" with computers for a long time. Your noise has a 90% chance of being the hard drive. If you aren't backed up, DO IT and go get another hard drive.

ferg

[Denise]

I back up "my documents" but that doesn't back up my Outlook Express e-mail address book. Where do I go to find that? (I know I have been told before but I don't remember.) Also, if I have to replace the hard drive, that means all the programs are gone too, right? How do I back up the programs? We have an external hard drive that looks to have more capacity than our computer so do I just copy "My computer" to the external hard drive?

[leatheroo]

Denise there a couple of programs that completely clone or ghost your harddrive to an external harddrive...Norton Ghost or Acronis. I use acronis and it does a backup every night. If my hard drive dies, i can install a new HD and then just copy everything from the backup....Acronis makes a complete clone....therefore there is no need to reinstall anything....you would be up and running as if nothing had happened! I started using this because hard drives just dont seem to last very long and i got sick of reinstalling everything.

[Denise]

So you store your information online with them?

[Ferg]

So you store your information online with them?

I assume you are on a Windows machine, I know there are automatic backup programs for you. Some programs charge you for the storage, I personally don't like that method. I have a two terrabyte external hard drive for my back up. Automatically backs up once every hour if anything has changed, if nothing changed in that hour it does nothing. I can restore my entire hard drive to another if the original dies. I usually get about 3 to 5 years out of my hard drives but that can change as with anything electroinc. The "back up drive" records everything. When it gets full the oldest info is discarded so the new info has somewhere to go.

ferg