Computer sounds like a crazed woodpecker!!

[LadyGrey]

Hi All,
I got some real trouble here. Wasn't doing anything special, playing Morrowind, then rebooted and all of a sudden right after the first POST screen the computer started making a noise like a crazed woodpecker!!:eek: Finished booting making that noise, then the icons started flashing, just the program icons that started with W were flashing. Couldn't get them to stop, I'd try to open a program like AVG, AdAware, or Spybot and Windows Media would open, or WinZip. Tried from Safe Mode too, same deal. Also seems to like the letter W alot, puts multiple Ws in anything, any form, any sign on screen that I could get to come up. Thought it might be the keyboard so came and got Donnie's, hooked it up, booted, same thing all over again. Can't shut it down either, have to shut it down with the button. Then we had a new sound along with the woodpecker, sounded like a phone that was on NoDoze. Ding, Ding, Ding just as fast as it could go. Then the sounds would finally stop, W icons would still flash so thought I had picked up a nasty somewhere in my travels, decided to just reformat the partition and use one of my Ghosts to put everything back, since I couldn't get anything to open and couldn't get online, did that and guess what, same tootin thing!:rolleyes: Do you think it could be one of my HDDs getting ready to go?? I have the S.M.A.R.T warning enabled in my BIOS, could that be what all the sounds are?? I'm going to try and run the HDD diagnostic program that I got from Maxtor a while back and see what it says, if it will even run. Any ideas or suggestions please! As always, many many thanks to you all!!
LG;)

[jabarnutcase]

Yikes LadyGrey!
I'm trying to imagine what a crazed Woodpecker sounds like.....There are a lot of horrid sounds a dying Hard Drive can make, and something similar to that is one of them.

Running the HDD Utilities from Maxtor sounds like a good idea. (And I hate to say it, but I've had Maxtor's go bad prematurely more than any other Drive I've had).

Since then, I'm still using two Maxtors for quite some time that seem fine....But they're no longer on my favorites list! :rolleyes:
The fact that you've reformatted and have the same problem seems to point to the drive....or certainly Hardware related.
Can you listen closely inside the case when it's happening? If it is coming from the Drive, you should clearly be able to hear Woody pecking away on it.
(Or for that matter, where ever it's coming from..(CPU Fan, HDD, PSU Fan etc, you should be able to pin down the location of the sound with the Case open).

(EDIT) An after thought...(Ever notice there's always one of those with me)? :rolleyes:
It just occurred to me that if that much noise was coming from your Drive, you certainly would have heard it during the format and reinstall process.
Still, I would run the utilities, and also listen inside carefully to try and pinpoint the sound.
Also, I assume this is an audible "mechanical" like sound coming from the case and not blasting out in glorious Stereo through your Sound card and Speakers...Right? ;)

[LadyGrey]

Yep mechanical noise is what it is all right. I've had the case open and have listened and listened but it's so hard to tell. I believe it is coming from one of the HDDs though. I was able to get the PowerMax program to run after a whole lot of fooling with it. It would reboot and start the DOS program then would go to the A: powermax.exe then lines and lines of H's this time would just type themselves in till the computer squealed. So I got back to an A prompt and typed in powermax.exe and this time we had lines of D's till the computer squealed. By squealed you know I mean that tone, solid tone. Then the third time we got to a program start screen and I hit F8 before it had a chance to do anything else to start the program and it ran. I ran the advanced test on the first HDD and the woodpecker started up again, he had been quiet for a bit but he sure started up again. When it got to the test of scanning the drive that's when he started. The drive came up as passed even after making that noise the whole time. I did the second drive too but no woodpecker on that one and it came up passed as well. I then ran the tests again on both drives and guess what no woodpecker at all! So I rebooted using Ctrl Alt Delete and no woodpecker, no noises, no flashing icons. I rebooted again, same thing. Then I shut it down, normally this time and let it set for awhile then booted and it went just fine again. What the devil is going on with this thing?? I'm bout half crazy.
I thought about what you said Jabar and it didn't make a noise when I reformatted I don't think and it would have wouldn't it? These two HDDs are the about the only original part left on this computer. They have to be at least 4 years old and maybe 5. I'm really not sure when John started building this, but I think it was in 99. So it could very well be that they are starting to fail. That's interesting about Maxtor not being on the favorite list any more. Have they really gone down so far in quality that they aren't worth buying??
Guess I'll have to get Budfred to start doing some shopping for me for new HDDs. I want two, have to have them. Having two is just invaluable and has saved my rear many a time. I'll have to go find out how to get the data from the old ones to the new ones. John has over 400 songs on the second HDD and with what I've put on we have about 500 or so and I just couldn't bear to loose those. That's really the only thing I'm worried about. Everything else I either have a backup or the disk.
If anyone has any more suggestions or ideas I could sure use them! Thanks much.
LG;)

[Fruss Tray Ted]

My favorite Woody WoodPecker line:
I got a LOT o' habits, and they're ALL bad! :D

I can't imagine what it is for sure, especially since a format hasn't changed anything. If it were WWWWWW's still instead of various other letters I would have first (like you) tried a new keyboard. Second, I would look into Device Manager to see if the KB controller is not reporting any errors via an yellow exclamation point. But that is an OS issue so reinstall should have taken care of that.

Questions:
Did you
fdisk the MBR when formatting the C: drive?
run a ScanDisk (from floppy) to check for bad sectors?
tried just one HDD?
check your CMOS battery (even if this is your new mobo)?

I think your pc is telling you something. W for Western Digital, H and D for harddrive :) That's all I use... Oops I lied, I have some Maxtors too but I lean towards WD JB's

You best be burnin off all them MP3's to disks just in case 'fore it's too late, cuz that clickin' may be the sound of the clock (http://www.rvarmstrong.com/images/hourglass.jpg) counting down....

[classicsoftware]

It's time to sit shiva for yout hard drive. Get the data off as soon as you can.

And remember the words of the old philosopher:

There are two kinds of computer users.

Those that HAVE experienced hard drive failure
and
Those that ARE going to experience gard drive failure.

[Steve]

hmmmm...here's an old mechanics trick (from an old mechanic ;) ) that you may or may not want to try. When trying to find the source of a strange, unlocateable noise, I take a long thin screwdriver and put the tip on the part that I think might be causing the noise. Then I put my ear on the handle. It's just like a stethoscope! You will know, loud and clear, if it's the HDD that is the source of the sound.

Now, I'm assuming that you know better than to put the tip of the screwdriver into a spinning fan...onto the traces on the motherboard or other cards...into a power connector...etc.

As for your 500 songs, put them on CD. HDDs aren't reliable enough for stuff you just don't want to loose.

:)

[LadyGrey]

Thank you all so much!! I've already started burning off all the music just to be on the safe side. I'm getting spontaneous rebooting now so I guess it must be the drives. FTT you have really got me on the MBR, do you mean MotherBoard?? Can't be, you can't fdisk a MotherBoard. I did a reformat from W2K and installed a clean copy of it. Didn't know I could run scandisk from a floppy, where and how do I get and do that?? Wouldn't the program I got from Maxtor be about the same as scandisk??
Device Manager says everything is just fine and dandy with not only the KB but everything else too. I thought about the letters too W and H and D. Coincidence?? Haven't checked the CMOS bat or tried just one drive yet, want to get all the music off before I try anything else while this thing is still working. So far the woodpecker seems to have flown south for a while:rolleyes:
That's a neat tip Steve, I'll remember that!! Yep, I know better than to stick it in a fan:D
I thought that was cute what classic said, think I'll print that out and stick it up so I can see it all the time to remind me to backup and burn things I don't want to ever lose.
Thanks again and I'll let ya know how it all comes out.
LG;)

[pave_spectre]

Originally posted by LadyGrey
you have really got me on the MBR, do you mean MotherBoard??

MBR usually refers to Master Boot Record, the first sectors on the hard drive.

By running fdisk /mbr you erase the mbr which is then rebuilt at next reboot, and can clear up some problems but is not a cure-all.

[LadyGrey]

Busy little person here! Got two new drives from NewEgg. They had what I thought was a pretty good deal on WD Caviar WD 800JB Enhanced Hard Drives. 80 gigs each and a three year warranty. They were $72.00 each which is pretty good I guess. I've more than doubled my space. I did alot of searching here about installing and how to transfer my data from the old drives. The install was a breeze really, had a little trouble with jumpers but I just took my time and redid everything till it worked. Up and running, all data transfered and no problems so far! I used the Data Lifeguard program from WD and it had everything I needed to set them up and transfer the data. That part was painless for sure! It was nice to have something work for once!:cool: I'm going tomorrow to get rails so I can mount the drives in the big 5.25 bays I've got. Just too hot and cramped where the old drives were. This case is an older steel case and it just wasn't built for an AMD system. Not nearly enough air flow so I'm going to mod the case. That should fix it. Thanks all for your help. Just wanted to let ya know everything is ok.
LG;)
PS Thanks Pave!!

[Paleo Pete]

By the way, the screwdriver trick Steve suggested works very well, I was going to post the same thing, I've used it many times on cars and computers too. Just make sure and stay away from fans and contacts, as warned. Actually better than a stethoscope, the stethoscope would be way too loud.

[You can tune an unplugged electric guitar by ear pretty well that way too, that's how I found out, but no screwdriver...just press your ear against the guitar body.]

[korky45]

The screwdriver syndrome always reminds me of a day when one of the sales staff used this technique, with disastrous results, to check his own car engine.

We didn't see it happen, but after a frenzied commotion he emerged from behind the raised car bonnet with a purple face and a half strangled look about him.

His tie had become caught up in the radiator fan and he had just managed to pull it clear before it choked him.

There is no moral to this story, I just though I'd add to the banter, now that you appear to have successfully concluded "The Case of the Noisy Woodpecker"

Thanks :)

[jabarnutcase]

They had what I thought was a pretty good deal on WD Caviar WD 800JB Enhanced Hard Drives. 80 gigs each and a three year warranty. Cool LG !!! :cool:
To elaborate a bit on my first post......Western Digitals are on my "favorites List". ;)

And to continue slightly off topic...That's funny Pete ...I discovered that with my Guitar many moons ago too. (Even though I'm a Drummer at heart), I play the Guitar a bit too.
Indeed, holding your ear against the Body works. (I used to hold the Neck or Headstock gently against something "resonant" too....Like my Dresser or Closet Door). :D


(Edit) Just saw your post korky45- That's one of those visual things...Pretty Funny. :p Also very scary. :eek:

[Steve]

LG, very nice. That HDD is my favorite right now. I've bought six in the past month. Two for me...:) Hard to beat that 3yr. warranty.