Clicking noise

**Blade_Jones** · 03-17-2012, 05:58 PM

Got a hard drive here that is recognized by Windows but not accessible by Windows. The drive was making a clicking noise about every 2 1/2 seconds. It would do this for about 15 seconds then stop. I was able to use R-Studio and it appears to be recovering the data fine. R-Studio showed that there was some master file table errors.

My question is what might be causing these clicking sounds? It appears as though the master file table is damaged, but would some corrupted MFT sectors cause a clicking sound?

greenbrucelee · 03-17-2012, 06:01 PM

clicking from a hard drive is 99.9% of the time the platters on the hard drive are failing which means it cant read or wite properly. So basically is dead.

backup your data ASAP

**Blade_Jones** · 03-17-2012, 06:04 PM

Quote:

clicking from a hard drive is 99.9% of the time the platters on the hard drive are failing which means it cant read or wite properly. So basically is dead.

So it's not a mechanical failure. It's just trying over and over to read but it can't because of bad sectors?

greenbrucelee · 03-17-2012, 06:09 PM

yes but the read write heads can scratch against the disc causing more and more bad sectors. Clicking form a hard drive means only one thing, its knackered.

The platters can fail for many reasons not just mechanical, they can fail by over usage, they can fail due to atmospheric pressure, they can fail due to a simple tap about 45mm on the right hand side just below the middle.

**Blade_Jones** · 03-17-2012, 06:15 PM

Quote:

yes but the read write heads can scratch against the disc causing more and more bad sectors. Clicking form a hard drive means only one thing, its knackered.

Is using R-Studio a sensible approach in this situations? Or would a high end forensics lab take a different approach such as sticking the platter in a "donor" drive?

greenbrucelee · 03-17-2012, 06:42 PM

dont know much about R-studio to be honest. I would always go the forensics approach also download the hard drive manufacturers diagnostic tool to see what that says.

spunk.funk · 03-17-2012, 06:46 PM

Quote:

R-Studio a sensible approach in this situations?

R-Studio or GetDataBack NTFS are the only DIY approach you can do to recover the data. Next step would be Data Recovery (forensic) which is quite expensive.

**LMiller7** · 03-17-2012, 08:38 PM

I would expect that a commercial data recovery lab would use software methods to recover data as long it had good prospects of success. A platter swap must be done in a clean room and is one of the the most difficult procedures where there are any number of things that can go wrong. It is also very expensive.

I understand that R-Studio is among the best available for DIY use. Data recovery labs have other software available but the cost is prohibitive for amateur use.

Edit: You need to decide early on whether or not your data is worth the cost of professional recovery. If the drive has physical problems extensive DIY attempts may cause further damage and make recovery more difficult if not impossible.

dai · 03-18-2012, 01:15 AM

what are you running
video card brand and model
cpu
m/board
ram
power supply
brand
model
wattage

check the listings in the bios for 12v line voltages and temperatures and post them

clicking can also be caused by being underpowered