Click/switching sounds from inside

[Maerty]

Thanks for viewing. I went away on holidays and left my notebook running for 2 weeks.
Now my computer will work sometimes for 30mins sometimes 2 hours, then a lound snapping/clicking sound from underneath and everything freezes. I must reboot and it will happen again. I suspect the hard drive, but came across this website and thought before i buy a new hd maybe i can get some expert advice. Can anybody confirm my suspisions or give me some advice as to what to do, it is getting annoying. if i leave my computer alone it will freeze everytime. i also got the same sound from my external harddrive. sometimes when i switch it on it will make the same clicking sound???????????? and freeze. could it be a power problem, although my external is plugged into a powered usb port.

[Southern]

Yup, sounds like a dodgy harddrive. I mean, the hard drive is the one thing that moves the most (apart from the fans of course) in a computer as the head writes and reads the data on the hard drives. It also means that if you drop a laptop, the hard drive is usually the first thing to go. In case you dropped it, I mean .

Hang on, you left your Notebook running for 2 weeks? Jeez, your battery must be completely messed up, the zero-point must have been completely lost so that the battery can't charge up as much as is normal because it's had power through it for a sustained period of time. So your battery won't be able to supply as much power as usual to the machine and the components. It's less of a problem with normal tower PCs where the power comes through the mains supply, the only issue is individual components overheating.

So first on the shopping list is a new compatible battery for your laptop, then if that doesn't fix the problem (should be the fix though) then try a new hard drive.

This post was brought to you today with the following lesson: Keep your laptop powered down when you're not using it!

PS. Just out of interest, why on Earth did you leave your laptop computer on for all that time? Catch up on some P2P/Bittorrent while you were away or something?

[Maerty]

I remove the battery when it is charged and run the laptop from the plug in the wall. I have just booted and it is running fine for now. I tried to start my external drive and it started then shutdown, started then shutdown 3 times and then nothing?????? This is a same thing i get with the laptop except sometimes i can run the laptop for 30mins to a couple of hours.
I can operate the laptop with no battery connected right?
I left my computer on because of telephone hookup. I did not want to miss any calls. I have a voicemail system setup for different users and a fax on command feature.

Originally Posted by Southern

Yup, sounds like a dodgy harddrive. I mean, the hard drive is the one thing that moves the most (apart from the fans of course) in a computer as the head writes and reads the data on the hard drives. It also means that if you drop a laptop, the hard drive is usually the first thing to go. In case you dropped it, I mean .

Hang on, you left your Notebook running for 2 weeks? Jeez, your battery must be completely messed up, the zero-point must have been completely lost so that the battery can't charge up as much as is normal because it's had power through it for a sustained period of time. So your battery won't be able to supply as much power as usual to the machine and the components. It's less of a problem with normal tower PCs where the power comes through the mains supply, the only issue is individual components overheating.

So first on the shopping list is a new compatible battery for your laptop, then if that doesn't fix the problem (should be the fix though) then try a new hard drive.

This post was brought to you today with the following lesson: Keep your laptop powered down when you're not using it!

PS. Just out of interest, why on Earth did you leave your laptop computer on for all that time? Catch up on some P2P/Bittorrent while you were away or something?