A technician is troubleshooting performance issues with a desktop PC and hears clicking noises coming from inside the case. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

The correct answer is B. Failing magnetic hard drive. Clicking or grinding noises from inside a PC are a classic symptom of a failing mechanical (magnetic) hard drive. This is commonly called the 'click of death' - it occurs when the read/write heads fail to find their home position and repeatedly reset, producing an audible…

Hardware and network troubleshooting

Question

Options

ALow voltage power supply
BFailing magnetic hard drive
CCorrupted Solid State Drive
DOverheated RAM

How the community answered

(27 responses)

A
4% (1)
B
85% (23)
C
4% (1)
D
7% (2)

Explanation

Clicking or grinding noises from inside a PC are a classic symptom of a failing mechanical (magnetic) hard drive. This is commonly called the 'click of death' - it occurs when the read/write heads fail to find their home position and repeatedly reset, producing an audible click. It indicates imminent drive failure. SSDs (C) have no moving parts and cannot produce clicking sounds. Low voltage from a PSU (A) would cause instability or shutdowns, not clicking. Overheated RAM (D) does not produce mechanical sounds.

Topics

#clicking hard drive#HDD failure#storage troubleshooting#mechanical drive

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