External 2.5" hard drive making a weird sound

kaisterkai

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Good day..

Recently me newly bought HD is making a sound. It only happens when you unplug the HD from the computer. The sound sounds like when your computer is just about to switch off.. (If that discribes it well enough. )

But it wasn't there before, so I just want to know, is this normal or is thing something in the HD that is scratching the disc or something?

Has anyone have this problem? I'm currently scared to put any data on there just in case I will lose them all..

Can someone help or should I take it back to the shop?

Thanks
 
Dunno if it's the same issue but I have a drive that 'whistles' when only connected to 1 USB port. Connected with a USB splitter cable the sound disappears.
 
Dunno if it's the same issue but I have a drive that 'whistles' when only connected to 1 USB port. Connected with a USB splitter cable the sound disappears.

Oh, well it plugged it to a USB 2 port.. and yeah, I have both splitters in..
 
Dunno if it's the same issue but I have a drive that 'whistles' when only connected to 1 USB port. Connected with a USB splitter cable the sound disappears.

HOw long did you have the sound for? Because I just want to know if it does harm to the HD or my comptuer..

Thanks
 
The sound sounds like when your computer is just about to switch off.. (If that discribes it well enough. )
Not really. Clicking sound? whistling sound? Grinding sound?

My guess is you're disconnecting the drive before its spun down completely.

The "safe" procedure is: Safely remove drive. Wait till its spun down (Silent). Pull out USB plug.

And no, you can't take it back without a solid reason. (I pulled it out too soon doesn't count - not here, nor in other life situations)

Either way though, it should be fine...the drives store a bit of juice that should allow them to park the hdd head safely. This is a safety measure though...not something you should rely on.

And make a backup. My external hdd died like 2 weeks ago.

HD = High Definition
hdd = Harddisk
 
Not really. Clicking sound? whistling sound? Grinding sound?

My guess is you're disconnecting the drive before its spun down completely.

The "safe" procedure is: Safely remove drive. Wait till its spun down (Silent). Pull out USB plug.

And no, you can't take it back without a solid reason. (I pulled it out too soon doesn't count - not here, nor in other life situations)

Either way though, it should be fine...the drives store a bit of juice that should allow them to park the hdd head safely. This is a safety measure though...not something you should rely on.

And make a backup. My external hdd died like 2 weeks ago.

HD = High Definition
hdd = Harddisk

I think it would be the whistling sound..

But I remove it.. must i leave it there for like a few seconds before removing?

but thanks.. I'll try it out..

HD not = HDD lol.. my bad :p
 
But I remove it.. must i leave it there for like a few seconds before removing?
Ideally yes. If you touch the hdd you can usually feel via vibrations whether the disk is still spinning. Depends on the casing though...some never power down until you pull the plug. Others do.

Whistling sound is def better than clicking or grinding. Not sure what a whistling sound would indicate though. I reckon theres about a 75% chance that its not indicative of anything bad.

More importantly than any of this though: Don't ever physically move the hdd while its on.
 
Ideally yes. If you touch the hdd you can usually feel via vibrations whether the disk is still spinning. Depends on the casing though...some never power down until you pull the plug. Others do.

Whistling sound is def better than clicking or grinding. Not sure what a whistling sound would indicate though. I reckon theres about a 75% chance that its not indicative of anything bad.

More importantly than any of this though: Don't ever physically move the hdd while its on.

But sometimes nothing happens.. like I can remove it and then no sound.. but most of the time.. it just makes that sound..

but anyway, thanks for the info..

I hope there isn't anything bad with it.. otherwise have to return it .. sigh..
 
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