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Laptop hard drive spinning then slowing down constantly

XenoXeno Registered User regular
edited January 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
Got a new laptop with Windows Vista. Its an HP Pavilion dv6500. The hard drive is a western digital 140GB.

The laptop is brand new. I just got rid of the bloat ware on the thing. Anyways, I measured it. I closed all the programs I could and just stared at the desktop listening to it. The hard drive begins to spin for 20 seconds, stop for 50, then repeats the process constantly. What is also notable is that during each of these intervals, there is a noticeable chirp. Its very hard to describe it. Almost like something just dripped. Not sure. Anyways, this is my very first laptop and I love the thing to death so I have absolutely no idea about these things.

When the hard drive is not spinning the thing is whisper quiet besides that chirp. But the hard drive constantly starting annoys me a little.

I came to you guys hoping that maybe you guys could tell me whats up.

Thanks.

Xeno on

Posts

  • AtomBombAtomBomb Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Find out what model of hdd you have and check for firmware updates. I had a laptop drive that did a similar thing (spinning up frequently for no reason) and there was a firmware update to fix it. I think it was a WD as well. If you need help determining what model drive you have let me know.

    AtomBomb on
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  • The CatThe Cat Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited January 2008
    Sometimes the firmware shouldn't be removed in its entirety - Acer's laptops need to retain their power management software to keep cooling properly, for instance, although you can still get rid of most of the other stuff like the media viewing ware. Did it happen right from the start, or only after you ditched that stuff?

    Otherwise, AB is probably right.

    The Cat on
    tmsig.jpg
  • KungFuKungFu Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    The Cat wrote: »
    Sometimes the firmware shouldn't be removed in its entirety - Acer's laptops need to retain their power management software to keep cooling properly, for instance, although you can still get rid of most of the other stuff like the media viewing ware. Did it happen right from the start, or only after you ditched that stuff?

    Otherwise, AB is probably right.

    Just for clarification in case Xeno or others get confused: Cat means software, not firmware.

    KungFu on
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  • The CatThe Cat Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited January 2008
    KungFu wrote: »
    The Cat wrote: »
    Sometimes the firmware shouldn't be removed in its entirety - Acer's laptops need to retain their power management software to keep cooling properly, for instance, although you can still get rid of most of the other stuff like the media viewing ware. Did it happen right from the start, or only after you ditched that stuff?

    Otherwise, AB is probably right.

    Just for clarification in case Xeno or others get confused: Cat means software, not firmware.

    Yeah, my bad. I'm talking about the HP-provided stuff.

    The Cat on
    tmsig.jpg
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Penny Arcade Forums› Help / Advice Forum