Strange clicking sound?

dellbox · 06-25-2008, 10:31 AM

My external hard drive, Western Digital, is making a strange sound whenever I plug it to the computer. It goes like "click, click, click" and then it stops. It sounds like it tries to boot up but it couldn't. The drive doesn't show up in my computer but shows up in device manager. Is there any way that I can access the drive and get my files back? Thank you.

Rob 1 · 06-25-2008, 02:28 PM

You're probably hearing the start signal it's getting from the computer.

If you grab the drive, you can tell if it's spooled up to speed because of the gyroscope effect of the platters spinning.

See if it's doing that.

If not then it's not responding to the start command either because there's something wrong with the external enclosure, or the drive is bad.

Since it's getting the start command, I would say there's little chance of it being the cable,
but it wouldn't hurt to try another one. And another port on the computer as well.

06-25-2008, 10:31 AM	#1 (permalink)
dellbox Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1 OS: XP	Strange clicking sound? My external hard drive, Western Digital, is making a strange sound whenever I plug it to the computer. It goes like "click, click, click" and then it stops. It sounds like it tries to boot up but it couldn't. The drive doesn't show up in my computer but shows up in device manager. Is there any way that I can access the drive and get my files back? Thank you.

06-25-2008, 02:28 PM	#2 (permalink)
Rob 1 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 309 OS: XP Pro	Re: Strange clicking sound? You're probably hearing the start signal it's getting from the computer. If you grab the drive, you can tell if it's spooled up to speed because of the gyroscope effect of the platters spinning. See if it's doing that. If not then it's not responding to the start command either because there's something wrong with the external enclosure, or the drive is bad. Since it's getting the start command, I would say there's little chance of it being the cable, but it wouldn't hurt to try another one. And another port on the computer as well. __________________ You should be running: Antivirus Antispyware Firewall (software or hardware)