pc clicking noise

[oldmanken]

Help, i have a 3 year old pc and just in the last few weeks after it has been in for about 1 hour i start getting a clicking noise like interference through the speakers. i have tried a different set of speakers and tried using another audio output jack on the front of the PC but still the same. It seems to be worse when you can hear the hard drive working hard. any ideas appreciated

 

[maglite]

does this happen in Windows, or does this happen when the computer is booting up as well?
it could be just audio interference, have you tried re-installing your audio drivers?

 

[Anthony_lst]

If its doing it on boot up try the reset button. sometimes its a loop in your start up. if you press reset and it boots smoothly then see if its ok. if it works try using a reg cleaner type program. see if it cures it.

 

[Conrad]

If you adjust the volume, does the clicking get louder as well?
If it doesn't then it's likely to be a ground loop or just general electrical inteference being carried over the ground.

Can you hear noises coming from your speaker that correspond to mouse or window movements? (you might have to put your ear right next to the speaker to hear these).

 

[oldmanken]

If you adjust the volume, does the clicking get louder as well?
If it doesn't then it's likely to be a ground loop or just general electrical inteference being carried over the ground.

Can you hear noises coming from your speaker that correspond to mouse or window movements? (you might have to put your ear right next to the speaker to hear these).

It doesnt do it on bootup only after its been on for about an hour and it doesnt matter what volume its set at it still does it at same level (you can still hear your normal audio from the speakers as well) It does sound more like electrical interference, but i was wondering where to look for first, what might be causing it ???

 

[Dalk]

It could be the hard drive motor is developing a fault.

Just in case make sure all your data is backed up.

Also make sure hard drive is not running too hot and that there is sufficient cooling for it.

 

[oldmanken]

BUMP going to have a look inside, any ideas where best to look and what electrical tests can be done inside for say an earthing fault ?????????

any ideas would be helpfull

 

[replayman]

Hard drives can make a clicking sound when they are on the way out! Do you still get the noise when you dis-connect the speakers?
You can usally put your hand on the drive and feel it clicking through vibrations!! give that a try.

 

[oldmanken]

Hard drives can make a clicking sound when they are on the way out! Do you still get the noise when you dis-connect the speakers?
You can usally put your hand on the drive and feel it clicking through vibrations!! give that a try.

No its through the speakers, cant hear any excessive noise from within the pc case, mute the speakers and the noise is still there, turn speakers off noise gone ????

 

[millermick]

hard drive

my hard drive was clicking it eventually packed in, i would replace it now.

 

[Conrad]

No its through the speakers, cant hear any excessive noise from within the pc case, mute the speakers and the noise is still there, turn speakers off noise gone ????

It's almost certainly a ground loop.

Basically, you've got (I think) DC voltage being carried between your components along the ground (the outer shielding) of the cables. As it happens after an hour it could be that something inside your PC kicks in after this period? Maybe a fan or something?

Get yourself a ground loop isolator and you'll get rid of the problem.

h**p://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=ground+loop+isolator

 

[tomyumgoong]

my old hard drive kept making clicking noises before it stopped working

 

[notmeatall3]

I'm finding this tread very curious.

Because of the desciption it sounds like a earthing loop problem.

There is a slight possibilty that the infinitesimally small amount of power used to send a signal to your speakers will be enuff to drag your hdd motor down to a point where it is struggling but i think that is extreme unlikely.


The fact that it doesn't happen immediately u turn the pc on makes me think it is a thermal problem.

What I can't work out is why it is taking an hour for it to happen? After a minute or so of your machine being on (10 minutes absolute Max i'd say) your pc gunna be up to full temperature.

Things u can try.

Plug the speakers directly into the connections on the back of the PC.

Replace the soundcard.

Just had another thought. It could be that your HDD is pulling too much power from ure PSU and that is indeed causing the interference??

Try opening task manager goto processes bar and click on cpu. If u use Vista click on the [show processes from all users] button
then use your hdd to copy a large file or something. Does anything jump in CPU useage.

 

[wonko]

replace the speakers

 

[Conrad]

I'm finding this tread very curious.

What I can't work out is why it is taking an hour for it to happen? After a minute or so of your machine being on (10 minutes absolute Max i'd say) your pc gunna be up to full temperature.

This intuiges me too.

Is it always an hour or is it "roughly" an hour? It could be something completely unrelated like your fridges motor kicking in, your central heating clicking on or a VCR waking up to record. Any device on your electrical ring could be causing this, it doesn't have to be inside the computer.

 

[raghu_tallam]

you may want to defragment the c drive and see if it fixes any issues with harddisc.