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Should my hard drive be making a 'clicking' noise?

musicpyrite

musicpyrite

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
1,639
0
Cape Cod
To start off, my hard drive has been making a 'clicking' noise for the past week and a half, and I'm starting to get worried about it. The noise is sort of "click click" (followed by a smaller/quiter) "click"

So why is my HD doing this? Does that noise mean it's going to fail? And if yes could you answer these questions:

1) Can I get Apple to replace the HD for making the clicking noise? (it's still under Apple Care)
2) If Apple wont replace it, could anybody sugest a highly reliable external hard drive that also happens to be cheap? (so I can back up my data)
3) If the drive FAILS, will Apple replace it?

I opened up Disk Utility and the S.M.A.R.T status is verified, I'll include a pic.

Even though I understand that drives fail, this is not a good time for me to be spending $100+ on an external drive; I'm really strapped for cash.

My computer is an iMac, that I bought in late November, and is 80 GB in size.
 

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zimv20

zimv20

macrumors 601
Jul 18, 2002
4,402
11
toronto
if you're concerned for your data, back it up immediately. clicking is bad, i predict it will eventually fail. it might take a year, it might happen today.
 
strider42

strider42

macrumors 65816
Feb 1, 2002
1,461
7
musicpyrite said:
To start off, my hard drive has been making a 'clicking' noise for the past week and a half, and I'm starting to get worried about it. The noise is sort of "click click" (followed by a smaller/quiter) "click"

So why is my HD doing this? Does that noise mean it's going to fail? And if yes could you answer these questions:

1) Can I get Apple to replace the HD for making the clicking noise? (it's still under Apple Care)
2) If Apple wont replace it, could anybody sugest a highly reliable external hard drive that also happens to be cheap? (so I can back up my data)
3) If the drive FAILS, will Apple replace it?

I opened up Disk Utility and the S.M.A.R.T status is verified, I'll include a pic.

Even though I understand that drives fail, this is not a good time for me to be spending $100+ on an external drive; I'm really strapped for cash.

My computer is an iMac, that I bought in late November, and is 80 GB in size.
Click to expand...

If you are strapped for cash, why not take a little bit of time out of your day and backup to CD using the built in CD-writer. Why spend money on an external drive when you have a backup solution built in. CD"s in bulk cost less than 25 cents each. You don't have to backup everything, just the stuff that can't be reinstalled from CD (ie you personal files. programs and the OS can be simply reinstalled). I can see how this wouldn't be convienent if you used a lot of you disk, but you never know.

I doubt apple will replace the drive jsut for clicking. But you could go ask an AASP and see what they say.

And of course apple will replace the drive if it fails. A warranty isn't much good unless they cover defects is it.
 
Horrortaxi

Horrortaxi

macrumors 68020
Jul 6, 2003
2,240
0
Los Angeles
Clicking happens when the drive can't be read for some reason. A failing drive is #1 suspect but cables and other stuff can cause it too. If you have AppleCare then anything that can cause a clicking drive should be covered.

Back up your data and call Apple.
 
JFreak

JFreak

macrumors 68040
Jul 11, 2003
3,151
9
Tampere, Finland
apple won't change the drive before it fails completely, i'm afraid. so invest on an external drive (lacie?) and make regular backups. or put the critical data on a pile of cd:s, but be sure to have backups.

WHEN the drive fails, you could ask the apple service to put in a 7200rpm drive for some extra cost - they should be able to refund you for the amount of the stock drive cost, and the replacement work will be free, so you can have a 300+ dollar work done in less than half price. and the performance boost will be HUGE.
 
musicpyrite

musicpyrite

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
1,639
0
Cape Cod
strider42 said:
If you are strapped for cash, why not take a little bit of time out of your day and backup to CD using the built in CD-writer. Why spend money on an external drive when you have a backup solution built in. CD"s in bulk cost less than 25 cents each. You don't have to backup everything, just the stuff that can't be reinstalled from CD (ie you personal files. programs and the OS can be simply reinstalled). I can see how this wouldn't be convienent if you used a lot of you disk, but you never know.
Click to expand...


I'll start backing up my data now, but I'm not very happy. lol, would you be happy if you had to back up 43 GB of files onto 660 MB CDs? Assuming each CD will hold exactly 660 MB of data I'll have to burn a minimum of 65 CDs :mad: (but in reality, I think It would be more like 80). The worst part is it wont be untill the weekend untill I can buy more CDs, I've only got 23!

I'll give my local Apple Shop a call.

Man, it's going to be a LONG night...*sigh*
 
strider42

strider42

macrumors 65816
Feb 1, 2002
1,461
7
musicpyrite said:
I'll start backing up my data now, but I'm not very happy. lol, would you be happy if you had to back up 43 GB of files onto 660 MB CDs? Assuming each CD will hold exactly 660 MB of data I'll have to burn a minimum of 65 CDs :mad: (but in reality, I think It would be more like 80). The worst part is it wont be untill the weekend untill I can buy more CDs, I've only got 23!

I'll give my local Apple Shop a call.

Man, it's going to be a LONG night...*sigh*
Click to expand...

Do you need to back up all of the 40 gigs. I guess with people having music files and what not on their machine, it can get big. I have an older machine, and I could backup all my files pretty easily, especially when I leave out the OS and various programs.

I'm assuming you don't have a superdrive so you could back up to DVD instead.
 
rueyeet

rueyeet

macrumors 65816
Jun 10, 2003
1,070
0
MD
All that really needs to be backed up is your home directory, plus any other files or directories (oops, that's folders--my DOS days are showing) that you've added elsewhere. If you've installed any apps, you might want to make backups of those too.

Of course, going by your name, most of that 43 GB is probably music.... :D
 
musicpyrite

musicpyrite

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
1,639
0
Cape Cod
rueyeet said:
Of course, going by your name, most of that 43 GB is probably music.... :D
Click to expand...

yea well... ;)

On this perticular computer, I have:
2.1 GB of Applications (excluding iLife, iDVD, iChat, ect..)
18.1 GB of movies
21.8 GB of music ( :eek: :D ) (of witch I have 14 GB backed up on my iPod, now I just need to figure out which songs AREN't on my iPod)
<1 GB of random documents, reports, blah blah blah

Either way, I'm going to end up breaking something, my HD, or my CD burner from making all the CDs.


Note: This isn't all the music I own, most of it is stored on my Win 98 SE machine; the 21.8 GB of music on my comp right now is only my most favorite music.
 
musicpyrite

musicpyrite

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
1,639
0
Cape Cod
Another question just occured to me, how do I backup all my Safari bookmarks, e-mails that I have sent though Mail, Address book, ect..? I don't really want to loose thoes, it would be a big pain if I did. Would it be a good idea to backup my Library, located in users/dainel ? Also in System Prefrences, how do I backup all my 'Other' tabbs? I've got alot of stuff I don't want to loose.

God, backing up all this data seems like I'm preparing for armageddon. :rolleyes:
 

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MrSugar

MrSugar

macrumors 6502a
Jul 28, 2003
614
0
musicpyrite said:
yea well... ;)

On this perticular computer, I have:
2.1 GB of Applications (excluding iLife, iDVD, iChat, ect..)
18.1 GB of movies
21.8 GB of music ( :eek: :D ) (of witch I have 14 GB backed up on my iPod, now I just need to figure out which songs AREN't on my iPod)
<1 GB of random documents, reports, blah blah blah

Either way, I'm going to end up breaking something, my HD, or my CD burner from making all the CDs.


Note: This isn't all the music I own, most of it is stored on my Win 98 SE machine; the 21.8 GB of music on my comp right now is only my most favorite music.
Click to expand...

If you can afford it buy an external drive. It saves you time and energy of CD burning, as well as the cost of CD's. Now days an external drive is of great use and cheap in price.
 
musicpyrite

musicpyrite

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
1,639
0
Cape Cod
MrSugar said:
If you can afford it buy an external drive. It saves you time and energy of CD burning, as well as the cost of CD's. Now days an external drive is of great use and cheap in price.
Click to expand...

Could you recomend a reliable, fairly cheap external hard drive?

I don't care if it is an internal HD fitted into an external case or if it is a true exernal HD, like Lacie or someone like that.
 
Mal

Mal

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2002
6,252
18
Orlando
musicpyrite said:
Another question just occured to me, how do I backup all my Safari bookmarks, e-mails that I have sent though Mail, Address book, ect..? I don't really want to loose thoes, it would be a big pain if I did. Would it be a good idea to backup my Library, located in users/dainel ? Also in System Prefrences, how do I backup all my 'Other' tabbs? I've got alot of stuff I don't want to loose.

God, backing up all this data seems like I'm preparing for armageddon. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I would recommend backing up your entire User folder, or at least the users that get used. The Safari bookmarks and email are stored in there. As for your "other" system preferences, most of them are in the Library folder (not the user one, the one on your hard drive's base level) under Preference Panes. Actually, that whole folder should be backed up as well.

JW
 
musicpyrite

musicpyrite

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
1,639
0
Cape Cod
skywalker said:
I would recommend backing up your entire User folder, or at least the users that get used. The Safari bookmarks and email are stored in there. As for your "other" system preferences, most of them are in the Library folder (not the user one, the one on your hard drive's base level) under Preference Panes. Actually, that whole folder should be backed up as well.

JW
Click to expand...

Hahahah, you had me rolling on the floor after you said that.

That'll be the day when I can back up 45.82 GB on a single CD-R. (that's just my user folder)

But you probbably mean on mutiple CDs.
 
mkrishnan

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Sorry, semi-OT, but you know that HD sound that some HDs make that sounds kind of like a marble falling on a table faraway? I've seen a few hard drives that do this every once in a while. Is that what you mean by clicking or is this more of the click of death thing that happens frequently?

And what is happening with that marble sound anyway? Is the hamster on the treadmill inside my G4 just a clutz? :D
 
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