I had a brand new PC did that, called HP and they immediately had me send it in and they put a new hard drive in, I knew and they agreed it was the hd. that was a couple years ago, it's been quiet ever since.

I heard this noise, too...and after a thorough system check...I find no HD..or other problems that could account for this issue. I strongly doubt that our two systems would respond in kind at the very same moment. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread and all other puter related sites throughout the day for [hopefully] a broader explanation.

The failure curve for hard drives is a big broad open U - absent physical abuse, either they fail in the first months when new or they'll last into old age. HP did nothing special for you, nut, all new PCs have a warranty and having to replace hard drives in new units is one of the most common warranty issues.

I believe the only moving parts in a PC are the hard drive and the fans, and either can be the source of odd noises.

Sometimes noise in a hard drive is a harbinger of an impending failure. It's something everyone should do regularly anyway but be sure any important files (photos, docs, etc) are backed up.

Edit to add:

When a hard drive fails, it's the hard drive company's warranty (to the PC manufacturer) that covers the cost of the replacement hard drive. They may even have to pay the PC company a reimbursement for shipping and handling, I don't remember (I used to work with a couple of drive companies).

I think Snidely is right ... I too many years ago had a noise from my puter ..it was the fan. Also, if it's the HD I think there is a free program called crystal disk (?) that looks at your HD for up coming problems and I think it's free.. but I will let others on here who know more talk about that program etc. Good luck.

Well...I've done a little more nosing around...as well as investigating the innards of my tower. A few dust bunnies had taken up residency in one of my three fans but they hadn't spawned any large collection of relatives so I'm not too concerned about the noise coming from there.

I am, however, a tad suspicious of my speakers. I usually keep them set very low...sound wise...because I enjoy peace and quiet when I'm on here. It's entirely possible that my particular noise could have emanated...for any number of reasons...from one or both of my speakers even though they were only a point or two above being entirely mute. It's primary day along much of the East coast and the airways are bursting at the seams with activity. Perhaps the site I was on triggered a contribution that my speakers briefly picked up. This possibility wouldn't surprise me in the least. The sound I heard was a distinct "pop" with the hint of another buffered pop. When I think about it now...it's a speaker pop kind of noise. The kind that electrical interference would produce.

So...I'm momentarily satisfied with my personal conclusion and hope it may shed some light Candler's way.

...."be sure any important files (photos, docs, etc) are backed up."

Excellent advice...as always, Snidely...and something I do on a regular weekly basis...if not more often.

Edited to add...The weather is rather inclement here with rain and T storms wandering around at random. This may, also, be a possible contributing factor.

I Know it was not special, (it was to me however) I also knew it was the HD and after a couple techs addressed it with me a supervisor listened over the phone, and that's when he sent out a prepaid box to send it back, and as I figured they put a new HD in it and transferred all my files over for me. I'm just saying a loud noise could be the HD.

Hello again. I should have been more clear. Yesterday evening my computer, screen, keyboard, and printer were sleeping.. On hearing the noise inside my computer my first reaction was to hit the keyboard "Enter". The computer went through its wakeup process. The screen seemed to flash a few times more than usual. The noise quit. So, I decided to turn it off as I usually do. (please read last paragraph)

This morning I did the dusting thing before turning it on. Its been on since 7AM and is now almost 3PM. I'm usually at the computer sort of off and on. In the eight hours I've not heard anything strange. But, like most of us who experience noise we're wondering if the other shoe is to drop.

anne_ct gave me some food for thought about the coincidence of our computers. Last night after rebooting and the noise went away I clicked my "shutdown" button as usual. There was a Microsoft message saying not to turn off the computer because they were downloading something. I supposed it was an update and I allowed my computer be turned off automatically. I rarely pay attention to whatever the download might be but am curious. anne_ct, if you, too, had a download notification soon after the computer noise it would be interesting to know. Thanks.

From my personal experience, my vote is HD.

My HD went from occasional clicking, to occasional low level screeching, to full time dead.

DA

I don't allow my system to download anything without my supervision...including MS updates. That being said...there were two updates...neither of a mandatory nature...on Monday, 4/24/16. I found them during one of my routine system checks before they had a chance to notify me. Very probably...they would have notified me the next morning 4/25/16, Candler. That would put us in sync. However, this download occurrence was not at all related to this morning's noise on my system.

One of the downloads affected a registry key change in Win 7. I suppose it's possible that could have caused a system "burp". I'm never very happy when I know they're messing around with my registry keys but that's my own personal angst.

A screen flashing more than usual when it's shutting down usually means
your system was busy doing something else when you hit the Off key. It
wasn't ready for your instruction so it has to run around and try to
close the registry file it was involved with before it shuts down.

Another contribution to this issue. It's been my experience over the years that a failing HD gives a more definite noise notification. It's usually a series of short beeps. Anywhere from 1 - 5 beeps. If your noise can be translated as "beeps"...then I would be concerned regarding the HD.

Just as general run-of-the-mill maintenance...have you defragged your system lately? Run a disk check to discard any unused or excess files, etc? I'm comfortable with my own noise diagnosis in that it probably involved my speakers. The noise you seem to be trying to describe mentally sounds to me like an electrical "slam" or the sound a car gear can make when being forced to move into another gear. Does that make sense? LOL Probably not.

In any case...I'll keep my eye here with hopes that the mystery gets solved.

hello anne_ct, and others. This is sort of an update about my "noise problem" post. I posted it on April 26. My computer seems to be doing okay and quiet as a metal desktop computer sitting on a fairly large wooden, open base desk can be. I can't say it is totally without noise but suspect what I might hear is generated by my environment. Thanks to everyone for the help.