Laptop hard drive noise. Why does the hard drive in my computer crack?

The hard drive remains one of the noisiest components in a computer. Moreover, one should distinguish between the noise due to the active operation of the hard drive during reading/writing and the noise of the motor, which comes from the disk almost constantly. Naturally, we should not forget about vibration noise, which is greatly amplified by the computer case. For example, often disks rigidly mounted in the metal case of the system unit transmit their low-frequency vibration (100-120 Hz) to it, and as a result, a noticeable unpleasant hum appears, which completely disappears with a non-rigid mounting.

Silent mount

The main source of noise in passive mode is the spindle bearing assembly. Being rigidly fixed in the computer case, the hard drive, with its low-frequency vibrations of small amplitude, causes the elements of the case to vibrate. The large surface of the computer case becomes a kind of amplifier for the noise produced by the hard drive. Note that three-inch bays for installing hard drives in modern cases are often made in the form of a loosely fixed basket, which is a good oscillating system. In this case, it is better to completely remove the basket from the case and install the drive in a 5.25-inch bay in a container or using a mounting slide. Several mounting methods are offered to reduce the noise of a hard drive.

To prevent resonances, you can use elastic washers for the bolts securing the disk to the computer case, vibration isolators, or an elastic suspension. An interesting idea was proposed on the Internet by enthusiasts from Spode’s Adobe website (http://www.spodesabode.com/) a rather original and very cheap way to reduce noise associated with disk vibration. All you need to implement it are two pencils and several rubber rings, with which you can secure a three-inch hard drive in a five-inch bay using extensions (by the way, this will be a good way to quickly mount a hard drive in a computer if all three-inch mountings seats are occupied).

This is perhaps one of the cheapest modifications, but it will force you to look inside your computer from time to time and change the rubber bands, since over time they become unusable. However, you can use wider and more reliable harnesses. However, do not forget that an insecurely fixed hard drive can reduce system performance or even fail.

In addition, some hard drives get very hot during operation, so good thermal contact with the computer case is an indispensable condition for their reliable operation, and suspension or insulation from the case disrupts heat transfer. So, although in the most modern models energy consumption is significantly reduced, the danger of overheating due to difficult heat dissipation still remains.

For such hard drives, you can use devices like Mobile Rack (http://www.mobile-rack.ru/), which is a plastic container into which a hard drive is inserted on a slide. The container will also act as a vibration isolator and dampen some of the vibrations of the hard drive. Some cases are equipped with built-in fans for better heat dissipation.

A more radical method of reducing hard drive noise is to use special soundproofing containers such as Silent Drive (http://www.quietps.com/) with a heat-dissipating circuit.

How to make a hard drive quieter using software

Many manufacturers provide their products with the ability to programmatically reduce the head positioning speed. The owner of a hard drive can reduce the noise level using special utilities that should be searched on the website of a specific manufacturer. Naturally, the speed of data access after reducing noise may decrease somewhat, but the level of comfort when working with a personal computer will increase.

The fact is that many modern hard drives have a noise control function (Automatic Acoustic Management, AAM, which in Russian means noise level management), and therefore some hard drive manufacturers have developed utilities for managing various disk parameters, including AMM. Almost any modern hard drive that complies with the ATA/ATAPI-6 standard or higher supports this function. The only exceptions are thin, cheaper Maxtor drives and many modern Seagate drives, which have AAM support, but cannot be adjusted.

How does a hard drive control the noise it makes? Some believe that reducing the noise level is achieved by reducing the disk rotation speed, but this is incorrect, since the spindle rotation speed is a constant value and for a particular model is maintained with an accuracy of a fraction of a percent. But the speed of movement of the magnetic head unit (MMG) drive can be controlled. If you were to disassemble a modern hard drive, you would see that the BMG is driven by a coil located in the field of action of a strong permanent magnet. When a current of one direction is passed through the coil, the block begins to move in one direction, and when the sign of the current changes in the other. This whole design strongly resembles the design of a conventional acoustic speaker, which is why this coil is called an acoustic coil. The greater the amplitude of the current pulse passed through the coil, and the steeper its front, the greater the acceleration imparted to the block of magnetic heads, and, accordingly, the stronger the noise emitted by the BMG design, because it acts as a diffuser in this “dynamics”. The essence of the noise reduction method in this case comes down to smoothing the edges of the current pulse supplied to the coil, which, in addition to reducing noise, leads to a decrease in the acceleration of the head unit. This means that the search operation for a specific location on the disk will be slower.

According to the ATA/ATAPI specification, regulation can be carried out at 126 discrete levels (values in hex 0x80-0xFE), but in practice only two adjustment levels are often supported AAM ON (noise reduction enabled hex values 0x80-0xA0) and AAM OFF (respectively maximum performance hex values 0xA1-0xFE). The operating principle of utilities that control the noise level of hard drives is to change the contents of a special Acoustic Management register.

As a rule, this function does not provide a smooth reduction in speed, but only switches between “fast” and “quiet” modes, but expansion of its capabilities is planned in future implementations. Moreover, the noise level of the disk can be changed at any time without losing the integrity of the disk, that is, without destroying the information on it.

On hard drives from different manufacturers, the factory setting may be different and vary from batch to batch. For example, some Samsung models are produced either with AAM mode enabled or disabled (that is, in maximum performance mode).

In order to adjust the noise level on your hard drive, you need, as we have already mentioned, to use a special utility from the disk manufacturer. If you don’t find such a program on the manufacturer’s website, you can use one of the many free disk management utilities. For example, there is a special program AAMTOOL by Mikhail Mavritsin and a universal MHDD by Dmitry Postrigan. The programs can be taken from our CD. The capabilities of MHDD can be found on the website (http://mhddsoftware.com/index.ru.php). AAM is easy to adjust: run MHDD from a floppy disk and type AAM in the program command line. The hard drive will begin to crackle its heads, and the program will offer you a choice of several options: M (minimum noise level), L (medium), P (maximum), and the D key turns off Automatic Acoustic Management, thereby switching the hard drive to maximum performance mode.

Switching the hard drive to low-noise mode, although it leads to a decrease in performance by an average of 5-10% (in some search tasks the decrease can be up to 30%), but the hard drive in this mode is practically inaudible even when copying a large number of small files.

However, in household devices, the speed characteristics of the drive are less important than the noise it produces; with modern technologies, the performance of hard drives is more than sufficient and the acoustic background created by the drive in the system is of particular importance to the user. Recognizing this, many hard drive companies are investing heavily in the research and development of quieter drives and in improving system designs to minimize their specific noise levels.

However, we should not forget that such simple universal methods as regularly defragmenting the disk, timely archiving, removing garbage and keeping your data in order also reduce the noise level of the hard drive when searching for information.

And one more thing: purchase uninterruptible power supply devices and cases with high-quality power supplies for your computers unstable voltage (not to mention the overvoltage of cheap power supplies) can also lead to malfunctions of the disks and not only increase their noise, but also damage them .

Modern drives are becoming less and less noisy

Drive manufacturers do not stand still and, when designing new models, they are using more and more new noise reduction technologies, including the use of shock-absorbing materials inside and outside the drive.

In principle, now for most hard drives a noise level of about 30-35 dB is considered acceptable (noise increases with active movement of the hard drive heads).

The rotation speed of a package of disks on a modern hard drive is 5400, 7200, 10,000 or 15,000 rpm. And the higher the disk rotation speed, the greater the access speed to information recorded on the hard drive. True, the most common hard drives nowadays have a speed of 5400-7200 rpm, since it is cheaper, simpler and more reliable. This is due to the fact that inside the hard drive case there is air at atmospheric pressure, therefore, when the disk rotation speed is too high, the rotating parts become significantly heated, and this leads to problems with the reliability of structural elements. In addition, high-speed hard drives create a significant level of noise during operation, which does not contribute to comfortable work with the computer. For example, the noise level when reading data arranged in a random order can be so high that the operation of a hard drive sometimes resembles the roar of a tractor. For slower hard drives, the noise level can be significantly lower, but now that household appliances (digital audio and video recorders, satellite receivers, Internet set-top boxes, etc.) are equipped with hard drives, the requirements for their noise level are becoming noticeably more stringent.

Indeed, in the consumer electronics industry there are practically no devices containing fans, and the only source of noise in them is hard drives. Moreover, the requirements for the quiet operation of household devices are much more stringent than for desktop computers, and a low noise level is often associated with a high quality product.

Therefore, hard drive manufacturers today strive to bring their products to a noise level of 15-20 dB (at the background level of a quiet room at night) in passive mode and 2-3 dB higher in read/write mode. Of course, this level would satisfy even the most demanding user, but today there are practically no such disks, and noise reduction from existing disks must be achieved by additional means.

The simplest solution to get rid of motor noise is to take a hard drive with a speed of 5400 rpm. Such a disk drive when idling has a noise level of 28-30 dB and will not be heard during the day (at this time the background noise of a quiet room is at the level of 30 dB), especially if it is enclosed in a well-insulated system housing, which also muffles sounds . However, in the data search mode, the noise increases by 4-6 dB or more, which cannot remain unnoticeable to the user. But for consumer electronics (for example, digital video recorders), such a noise level is generally unacceptable.

Therefore, the noise level of hard drives is steadily decreasing. Now the spindle of a good disk is almost silent, and makes a characteristic sound only when starting or stopping. In addition, a characteristic crackling noise is produced by the head positioning mechanism, which is especially noticeable when copying many small files scattered across the disk (to reduce noise when positioning heads, regular disk defragmentation can be recommended). However, for some models the head positioning time is deliberately increased by the developers in order to reduce the noise level when reading/writing small or highly fragmented files.

Thus, the use of the latest generation of disks provides a more radical reduction in noise than all the methods described above, including during intensive operation of the positioning mechanism.

Modern drives use noise-insulating gaskets, SeaShield protective covers, Fluid Dynamics Bearings (FDB), and also use ties between the body and the engine; special materials and designs are selected that allow achieving 20 dB at idle and up to 28 dB when silently searching for data.

Thus, acoustics (that is, the noise that the drive produces during operation) becomes one of the most important parameters of modern hard drives.

Model question

Hello.

I recently bought a laptop and only after some time I noticed that when I download a file, turn on the laptop, or copy information from disk to disk, the disk starts to crack. The sound is not strong, but extremely unpleasant.

The store said that everything was fine with the disc, that’s how it should be, but doubts remained in my heart...

If I had known that this model was so noisy, I would have chosen another one... Tell me, what can be done to reduce the noise when the disk is loaded?

Hello.

Crack, crack, discord. In general, a hard drive (HDD) is a mechanical device, and any HDD makes noise when operating. True, with one disc it is subtle and practically inaudible, while with another it can be somewhat annoying. In addition, in addition to the “working” noise (which should be there), extraneous noise may appear (indicating a problem): knocking, strong grinding, clicking, etc.

Particular attention should be paid to disk noise in cases where:

if the old disk starts making noise, which previously worked without noise (this is an alarming symptom - first of all, immediately remove all important files from the disk);
noise appeared in the form of: knocking, strong clicks, grinding, etc. (all this also indicates a problem with the mechanics);
if when a crackling sound appears, the computer starts to freeze, Windows does not respond to your clicks;
your files periodically cannot be opened or read, and the disk is noisy.

All of the above symptoms indicate possible hardware problems with the disk (in most cases), and without replacing it with a new disk, the noise cannot be eliminated. Therefore, I recommend that after the backup, look at the SMART readings, check the disk for bad blocks, etc. I have one small instruction on disk checking on my blog, link below.

How to check a hard drive for errors and bad sectors (bad blocks). How to work with the Victoria program in DOS and Windows -

If your new disk is noisy - then most likely everything is fine with him, and this is his operating noise (although no one rules out defective or failure of the new disk either). Most often, the problem is that when the user bought a disk (laptop, computer) in a store (where there is a lot of extraneous noise, music is playing, etc.), he simply did not pay attention to the noise of the disk (and even in the store, the disk, like As a rule, you don’t load it too much). And in the house, in the silence of the night, I appreciated all the characteristics of my device.

But since a computer is a technically complex product, it is easy to exchange it in the store for another (as can be done with other products). In many cases you may be refused (there must be a more compelling reason, for example, a malfunction). Later in the article I will give recommendations on how to eliminate such “working” noise.

Addition!

When purchasing a new HDD: please note that the device specifications usually always indicate the noise level of the drive. This parameter is measured in dB.

Of course, the lower it is, the quieter the disk. Comparison plate (to find out how and what) with the noise level given below.

To help!

How to choose a hard drive (HDD): 6 points worth paying attention to -

1) Change your old HDD to an SSD drive (or another HDD)

The first tip involves material costs. Ideally, to completely eliminate the noise, you need to change the disk. Now SSD drives are gaining popularity - they do not have mechanics, like HDDs, and therefore they are a priori silent during operation (completely silent!).

In addition, they have several more advantages:

the operating speed is several times higher (this is the main advantage!), thanks to this, your applications, games, Windows will load an order of magnitude faster;
consume less energy (for example, a laptop will work 10-15% longer without recharging);
they are not so afraid of shaking and vibration (again, a plus for laptops);
They don't get hot like HDDs.

However, these discs have one drawback: higher cost. But it pays off with interest! You can find out the difference in operating speed between an SSD and a HDD drive from one of my articles, the link to it is below.

How to check disk speed: HDD, SSD. Test to determine the difference in speed between SSD and HDD, is it worth switching to a solid-state drive? -

2) Check if there is an application that loads the disk up to 100%!

If the disk does not always annoy you with noise, but only at times of heavy load (this can be indicated, for example, by the LED indicator of the hard disk’s operation), then try to find out which application is loading it, and then disable it.

Very often, the disk can be loaded with applications that you don’t need. For example, when Windows boots, uTorrent is loaded with several hundred torrents: it may take 5-10 minutes for them all to be checked! And all this time the disk will be heavily loaded.

The easiest and fastest way to find out about applications that load the disk is to open the task manager (for Windows 8, 10), and open the resource monitor (this is for Windows 7). Once you recognize an application that is actively working with the disk, try closing it.

To call the task manager- press the button combination Ctrl+Shift+Esc.

In Windows 8, 10 - open the tab "Performance" and see if the disk is loaded. If loaded, then in the tab "Processes" you can find the program (which loads it) and close it.

Windows 8-10 - performance (disk load 0%)

In Windows 7, in the task manager you need to open the tab "Performance" , then click on the button "Resource Monitor" .

In Resource Monitor, open the tab "Disk": pay attention to the sections "Processes with disk activity" And "Disk Operation" .

3) Reduce the speed of positioning the block with heads (Automatic Acoustic Management)

Hard drives have certain options that are usually not mentioned anywhere (we are talking about Automatic Acoustic Management now, often abbreviated A.A.M.). This option allows you to reduce the speed of movement of the heads, and this in turn has a positive effect on the noise level (although, in addition, the speed of the disk decreases somewhat, but it is not noticeable to the eye).

You can change this setting in special utilities, I recommend the following: quietHDD, HDDScan. I will consider working in both utilities.

quietHDD

A very small utility designed to reduce the acoustic noise of AAM and the power consumption mode of APM hard drive. Working with it is simple and fast, an example is below:

Multifunctional program for working with SSD and HDD drives. Allows you to view SMART, check the disk for bad sectors, find out the temperature of the media, manage acoustic noise, energy, etc.

In our case, you need to run the program, then select the hard drive (if you have several of them in the system), and open the "Features/IDE Features" option.

HDDScan - IDE Features

Further in the section Automatic Acoustic Management- set the value between 128 and 254 (by the way, the program recommends 254, but it is not always optimal). In general, for the minimum noise level - set the value to 128 and press the button SET(install). Thus, you can adjust and find your optimal option.

Note: Please note that not all drives support this option. In some cases, HDDScan will not allow you to change values in Automatic Acoustic Management.

Automatic Acoustic Management

4) Securely fix the disk in the block, eliminate vibrations, use soft gaskets

This advice applies to a regular PC, but if you have a laptop, then your hard drive is almost certainly securely and tightly fixed in the case by the manufacturer (and you don’t have to read this advice).

5) Check for errors and defragment

Well, the last thing I wanted to advise is to check for errors and defragment the disk. Cracking - this, of course, will not directly reduce it, but it will make your disk more responsive, and the operating speed will increase (which will have a positive, albeit small, effect on the noise level).

To check your disk for errors and defragment it, open "My computer" ("This computer", "Computer" - depending on Windows version) . Then select the desired drive and open it properties(see screenshot below).

By the way, defragmentation and cleaning the disk of debris can be done in auto mode; there are special utilities for this. See below for a link to the utilities I recommend.

To help!

The best programs for optimizing Windows -

Sometimes every PC user may encounter the problem of extraneous noise during hard drive operation. The hard drive is a mechanical structure containing rotating disks. Reading information from a hard drive is carried out using magnetic heads, which, when moving, create some noise. The type of extraneous sounds depends on the model of the hard drive and the case of the system unit. If the computer case is made of inexpensive materials and the inside is poorly assembled, then unpleasant sounds will be emitted throughout the system unit.

The hard drive stores all the information on the computer. Therefore, you need to take measures to save data as soon as you hear noise during the operation of the device. Because this is the first “bell” that it may soon break.

However, sometimes the simple operating condition may be accompanied by noise. Here you need to figure out why the hard drive is cracking.

Replace the hard drive.
Modify the acoustic level using the AAM option.
Take measures to soundproof the case or buy a better one.
Secure the hard drive with soundproofing pads.
Defragment the disk.

Apparently, the second option for solving the problem raises the most questions. Let's look at what it is.

Reducing noise from a hard drive using AAM

Any HDD has the function of regulating the level of noise it creates using the built-in Automatic Acoustic Management (AAM) option. Its task is to reduce the noise of the device by reducing the speed of movement of the heads. But there is one negative factor here: using this option will automatically reduce the speed of the hard drive.

Which of these two options (speed or noise) will create more inconvenience, in which favor to give your preference is up to you to decide. You may not feel a reduction in the speed of your hard drive, but the annoying noise volume will noticeably decrease. If you still decide to fix the noise problem using AAM, then you need to download the WinAAM application. It is available for download and is completely free. It has a Russian-language interface and works without mandatory installation. You can get this program by following the link: http://www.withopf.com/tools/aam/winaam-292.zip.

On the window that appears, click “Continue”. Correcting security settings is completely useless in getting rid of hard drive noise, so it is better not to touch it.

In the first line you can read that at this point in time the noise level control is not activated. Click on the “Silent/Standard (128)” option to adjust the silent AAM level. Its value can range from 0 to 255. It is noted that influential abilities are possessed exclusively by extreme levels, that is, “quiet” or “loud.” Most hard drives don't pay attention to the intermediate levels. This is most likely the reason that the WinAAM application allows you to solve the noise problem with a click on one option.

After adjusting the noise level, the application will close. Re-open it, select “Continue”, then “Check”.

A window will open showing the random movement of the read head.

At this moment, you will have the opportunity to hear the operation of the hard drive with the updated AAM option. The difference is huge. In order to compare with the previous state of the hard drive, click the “Loud (254)” parameter. This action will speed up the hard drive and return the previous noise volume.

Mechanical methods for getting rid of HDD noise

When the application fails to get rid of the noise, you need to solve the problem manually.

First, check the quality of the hard drive fixation. The hard drive must be firmly fixed and held securely in the grooves, all bolts must be sufficiently tightened.
Consider which parts of the HDD mechanically touch the computer case. At the joints it is necessary to install special gaskets with an insulating function. You can move the hard drive mounting basket a little so that the part does not come into contact with the computer case. Doing this can help reduce noise.
If it is possible to change the location of the hard drive, do so. It is necessary to ensure that the vibration of the hard drive does not transfer to the case.

If this fails to reduce the noise, contact technical support.

Why is the hard drive cracking?

When operating a computer (PC), users often complain about the presence of extraneous noise or crackling noise. The noise in most cases is caused by the operation of fans (coolers), but the cracking noise is most likely caused by the hard drive. Then the question arises: why is the hard drive cracking? There may be several reasons, such as a malfunction of the hard drive itself, or poor fastening, fixing the hard drive inside the computer case, due to which extraneous vibrations are created and the hard drive begins to rattle. True, for the sake of fairness, it should be noted that the hard drive actually constantly makes a characteristic noise, and this is quite justified, since the principle of operation of the hard drive is precisely that the magnetic heads begin to rotate while reading information. This is especially true for older HDDs.

If the noise becomes annoying or was not there before, but appears after a while, then this may also be a sign that the hard drive may soon fail. Also, the fact that the hard drive may be faulty may be indicated by the fact that with the appearance of noise, the computer began to work worse and slower, periodically freezes, produces various errors, or does not want to boot at all. Therefore, here you need to seriously think about checking the disk for errors.

Below we will discuss the main reasons why a hard drive is noisy.

The main reasons why a hard drive cracks

The first reason is poor fixation of the hard drive system unit in the case. There is only one way out - simply disassemble the system unit and securely fasten the hard drive. But often this is impossible to do due to the cheap case. In this case, one of the most common options among users is to hang the hard drive on pieces of twisted pair cable. Simply pull out the slide that holds the hard drive.

The second reason why the hard drive on a laptop and PC is noisy is the specific operation of a particular drive model. This is normal operating mode for it. True, if such noise is very disturbing, then you can resort to a method of reducing it by reducing the speed of rotation of the hard drive heads.
Hard drives have such a function as automatic noise management - Automatic Acoustic Management (abbreviated as AAM). Its essence lies in the fact that you can reduce the rotation speed of the magnetic heads and, thus, reduce the noise level. But in this case, the hard drive will read data slower. Therefore, here each user decides specifically for himself what is more important for him - the absence of noise or high performance.

This method is implemented by various software tools. There are many such programs on the Internet, so finding them will not be difficult. You can also simply enter the query: hard drive is cracking, what should I do, and the search engine will immediately return a lot of information and articles that mention specific names of programs through which the AAM mechanism can be implemented. The main point of all this software is that there are two numbers 128 and 254. The first is when the hard drive will work quietly, but slower, and the second is fast, but will make a lot of noise. You can try to find the optimal value for yourself experimentally.
The next most dangerous reason is a malfunction of the hard drive or evidence that it will soon need to be replaced or repaired.

What to do when the hard drive is noisy due to a malfunction?

When excessive noise from a drive is associated with its malfunction, it is necessary to check for errors. We tell you how to do this in Russian below.

Before checking, it is recommended to make a backup copy of all data. For such purposes, it is better to purchase an external hard drive that connects to a PC or laptop via USB. The check can be performed using standard tools using the operating system (OS) Windows XP/7/8/10 itself, or other software:
1. Check using standard operating system tools.
The Windows OS family provides the ability to check the hard drive for errors and automatically correct them. Simply select the desired disk using the right mouse button and select Properties in the context menu. Next, select Service and click the Check button. Be sure to check the box next to the items: “Automatically correct errors” and “Scan and repair bad sectors.” It is advisable that no processes or applications are running on the PC at this time, otherwise the system may display an error stating that it is impossible to perform the check, since this disk is currently being used by other applications and processes. If errors are detected at the end of the check, it is advisable to carry out additional diagnostics using proprietary utilities from the HDD manufacturer.
2. Checking with software from the manufacturer allows for more advanced diagnostics and has a number of additional tests. Such programs can also be found on the Internet or downloaded from the hard drive manufacturer’s website. If, as a result of such a test, problems are also found, then we can conclude that the cause of the excessive noise of the hard drive is its malfunction.

It is definitely determined that the hard drive is faulty. Options

So, as a result of the tests, it was determined that the hard drive is noisy due to the presence of errors, what to do in this situation? There are two options here:
— if the warranty period has not expired, then submit it to a service center for warranty repairs;
- if the warranty has expired, also take it to a specialized computer service, but you will have to pay money for repairs.

The worst case scenario may be when the hard drive is completely out of order and cannot be repaired. In this case, you need to raise money for a new hard drive. That is why it is useful to always have a backup copy of important data, because no one is immune from such situations.

Why does the hard drive crunch? Is there something wrong with my hard drive? Similar questions are asked on the Internet by most novice users who do not yet have such modern computers as Preon. Don’t rush to panic and immediately run to a service center: excessive noise from the drive can be caused by several reasons:

intensive work of HDD, features of its design;
poor computer assembly;
high degree of file fragmentation;
the presence of breakdowns that sooner or later will lead to complete inoperability of the hard drive.

Let's start with the very last reason. The hard drive is the mechanical part of the computer, and therefore the most vulnerable. Sooner or later, any equipment wears out, and HDDs are no exception. We recommend that you make backup copies of your data and contact our service.

We will select the hard drive that best matches your computer or laptop, and you can once again work or play with the help of your electronic assistant.

A hard drive can also crackle or crunch due to the nature of its operation. Inside the HDD, disks spin and magnetic heads move, constantly reading some information. You can reduce the operating speed of mechanical parts - the noise will decrease accordingly. To do this, we recommend using the AAM program. The application is easy to use. You just need to press one “Quiet/Standard (128)” button to enjoy the quiet operation of the hard drive. Having done this, close the program and launch it again. Click “Continue” – “Check”.

Has it become quieter? Congratulations! You can compare how it was before by pressing the “Loud (254)” key.

The crunch may be due to a high percentage of file fragmentation. Simply put, fragmentation is a situation where “pieces” of the same file are scattered in different places on the HDD. The Winchester has to “strain” more to read the information and therefore noise occurs.

The standard Windows defragmenter will help you cope with the problem. Finding it is easy: go to “My Computer”, right-click on the logical drive icon, and select “properties” in the context menu that appears. Then “Service” – “Optimize”.

And finally, crunching, crackling and other extraneous noises in the operation of the disk may be associated with poor PC build quality. In this case, several measures will help you: installing the HDD on soundproofing pads, placing the disk in a soundproofing case and (or) replacing the PC case.

We hope our article was useful to you. Now, you know what your hard drive is crunching about and what you can do about it.

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