Computer Issues

josefdoc

Member
Hi all, my Trainz computer recently began making a high pitched noise when turned on, and is making a tapping sound inside. From the research I've done it seems as if its the hard drive, however, I'm hoping its not. After a while the sound goes away and then will return intermittently. Does anyone know what it may be?

Thanks,

Josef
 
Could well be a fan causing those noises - and you likely have several inside your case - including the CPU cooler, the graphics card, the power supply unit, more than one case fan and possibly some others cooling storage on your motherboard!
Suggest remove the case shroud to listen more closely for the culprit to narrow the field down.
If it is the hard disk drive (or any of the fans) suggest take immediate remedial action - Back up the drive to an external disk and replace any faulty components.
Good luck, Josef.
 
I agree with PC_Ace. You might find that not all the interior fans will start when you power up your PC but I'm certain the power supply and CPU cooling fans will.
 
Make sure the fans are unobstructed. If that didn't do any good, back up your hard drive ASAP. It's on its way out. I would suggest replacing it with an SSD.

Matt
 
It could very well be a fan as others have said here. Fans are cheap and are cheaply made these days. They don't have greased bearings and are made with simple grease impregnated bushings. Eventually the bushings wear out or dry out causing the squealing as they don't spin as well as they used to.

What makes me inclined to think this too is the fact that the sound starts then it disappears only to appear later. A hard disk drive will also exhibit other issues such as poor performance, cause system lockups, freezes, and the worst part of data corruption and loss.

If it's the power supply fan, you need to replace the power supply. I recommend replacing the PS with the same rating or better. Never go below, otherwise, other components will fail or run unreliably due to lack of adequate power.

Other fans can easily be replaced. Go online to places such as New Egg www.newegg.com for your parts. New Egg has an excellent return policy and excellent shipping for their parts. I've dealt with them for well over a decade if not longer with no problems at all.

The other place to check is Microcenter. (I forget their URL)

if it's a ready-made box, you may be in luck with the company replacement program if you are still under contract.
 
Thank you all for the advice on this, it's greatly appreciated. I'll be sure to check the fans and see if that's the issue, as the computer operates smoothly and fast, and no files are corrupted. And even if the hard drive isn't the issue, I'll most likely replace it with an SSD, as performance and startup time would be much quicker. I'll open the computer to check the fans and let you all know what I find.

Thanks again!
 
You can use the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels to isolate the sounds inside the case. Hold it to your ear being careful you don't poke the moving blades of the fans with it.

William
 
Hi all, I apologize for the late response to this post. I just got a chance to look at the computer tonight and it doesn’t seem to be making the noise anymore. I opened up the case and looked listened to the fans and hdd, and didn’t hear anything. Im not sure what was causing it. The only noise I hear is the light sound of the hard drive and some faint tapping intermittently, nothing really loud like before. And the light tapping seems to come and go, I’m assuming that’s normal.
Thanks, Josef
 
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