HDD screeching in Vista only

Dharzen · 08-05-2009, 11:37 PM

Hi, everyone.

Approximately 5 months ago the HDD of my laptop began making a strange screeching sound at all times. The sound is not too loud, but you can hear it very well and it gets really annoying over time. However, the hard disk only makes this noise while in Windows Vista. I've installed Linux and even Windows 7 and the noise is not present there.

I've read that hard disk drives make this kind of noise when they start to fail, but I don't think that my HDD is failing or something, since I only have 6 months with this computer, so it's relatively new. Additionaly, I've had no performance issues or errors at all; everything works perfectly fine.

So, if my HDD is not failing, what is causing this noise? And why in Windows Vista only? Also, the disk is much quieter when reading/writing data on Windows Vista than on Win 7 or Linux.

My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite A-305 S6858, and the HDD is also a Toshiba, model MK3252GSX. Hope you can help.

**raptor_pa** · 08-05-2009, 11:43 PM

Make sure shadow copy is turned off in Vista - can cause a lot of write activity. It could be a sign of impending failure, 6 months isn't long, but I have seen them fail a lot sooner, it's like anything else, some of them are destined for failure from day one, so make sure you have good backups just in case...

Dharzen · 08-05-2009, 11:52 PM

I'v turned off shadow copy.....but the screeching is still there. As I said, the noise is only present in Vista, so this issue is confusing me a little. I'm gonna start backing up my data, just in case.....

08-05-2009, 11:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dharzen Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Windows Vista SP2	HDD screeching in Vista only Hi, everyone. Approximately 5 months ago the HDD of my laptop began making a strange screeching sound at all times. The sound is not too loud, but you can hear it very well and it gets really annoying over time. However, the hard disk only makes this noise while in Windows Vista. I've installed Linux and even Windows 7 and the noise is not present there. I've read that hard disk drives make this kind of noise when they start to fail, but I don't think that my HDD is failing or something, since I only have 6 months with this computer, so it's relatively new. Additionaly, I've had no performance issues or errors at all; everything works perfectly fine. So, if my HDD is not failing, what is causing this noise? And why in Windows Vista only? Also, the disk is much quieter when reading/writing data on Windows Vista than on Win 7 or Linux. My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite A-305 S6858, and the HDD is also a Toshiba, model MK3252GSX. Hope you can help.

08-05-2009, 11:43 PM	#2 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,905 OS: XP	Re: HDD screeching in Vista only Make sure shadow copy is turned off in Vista - can cause a lot of write activity. It could be a sign of impending failure, 6 months isn't long, but I have seen them fail a lot sooner, it's like anything else, some of them are destined for failure from day one, so make sure you have good backups just in case... __________________

08-05-2009, 11:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
Dharzen Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Windows Vista SP2	Re: HDD screeching in Vista only I'v turned off shadow copy.....but the screeching is still there. As I said, the noise is only present in Vista, so this issue is confusing me a little. I'm gonna start backing up my data, just in case.....