Hey guys, I just built a new system and installed a brand new WD6400AAKS sata2 drive in it. It seems to be working ok, I ran some wd diagnostics from dos and they also report that the drive is fine, in good health. However, I have this concern about this noise that the drive makes intermittently. Sometimes at idle, while there is no hdd activity, (I know it's normal to have hdd activity even if you're not using your computer because of some background services accessing the hdd, however, when this happens you will normally see the hdd light blink on your computer) there is no hdd light blinking, the drive makes this fast mini gun type noise for a second or two. I tried unplugging the sata cable but left the power cable attached and turned on the computer and after some time the drive made that noise again. So, in my opinion the os is not responsible for making the noise because it's not accessing the hdd. Now, can someone here tell me if I should be worried about this intermittent noise? Is this a signal of impending failure on this drive? Or, is this noise normal and I shouldn't be concerned with it. Please let me know. Thanks.

Probably normal. All modern Hard Drives have a little computer on board. Even if Windows isn't accessing it, it is accessing itself.

Actually my friend bought the same drive when i did, as it was on sale, and we performed some tests on his drive and it doesn't make the same sound even though they are both identical drives with same firmware and same manufacture date and place of manufacture. Now this has me worried more, what if this noise isn't the onboard computer accessing the hard drive but the hard drive randomly vibrating while it's idle. Now, my question is that is it ok for a hdd to randomly vibrate like this while it's in idle? Or should i just rma this hdd.

Drive works, I don't see what could be the problem?

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Well, i'm gona take you're guru's advice and keep it, until it fails for good, everything on it backed up anyways, so it's not big risk. Thanks guys.

Well, I was working at my computer for a few hours today and it seems the noise gets kind of loud and maybe longer in length at times. I did notice that when I hear this specific noise, (fast machine gun type seeking noise) there is no hdd light activity at the time. I'm quiet sure it's not the onboard computer that's accessing the hard drive. Could this be a case of a bad head jumping on the platters causing vibration?

If the onboard computer is accessing the drive, the drive light won't light.

Technically, the drive should be fine, but if it really bothers you, and you can, why not exchange it? That way, you won't have to worry, unless if the new drive makes the same noise

Another thing to be aware of... Some computer cases do a great job of dampening noise, and others are just the opposite, amplifying the sound of the HD.

Well, i just finished scanning the drive for errors using hdtune, i think it took almost 2 hours or so. It all came back good, all squares were green. so that's good. I have to admit the noise can be annoying sometimes, but it's just too much trouble for me to rma this thing. If it starts failing, then maybe I'll think about rmaing it. I have another 3 years.

Another thing to note is the fact that my friend's drive which is bought from the same store same batch with same manufacture date, and same bios etc., does not make any sort of noises like at all, it's actually a bit louder then mine when in normal use. However, it doesn't randomly "access itself" as suggested, which is wierd.

This might be thermal calibration (sometimes called TCal) occuring, which fits with you saying it occurs after some time of the drive being powered-on. You might hear it more than your friend with the same drive, because your drive gets hotter more quickly in your computer, or as rchadwick said, due to differences in the computer cases damping making the sound more obvious to you. If it is the same regular sound when it occurs, and you have no other indications of errors, I wouldn't worry. Modern drives are doing all sorts of clever things in the background...

Well, i was talking to support at western digital and they said the drive shouldn't be making any noise like the one i'm describing and there is no tcal feature on this particular model. They actually gave me a rma number to return the drive. I have 30 days to send it in. Yesterday, i backed up the data and erased the drive using the fasterase option in mhdd. Before doing that i also used nhpa command to set lba to max. I was doing this to erase the data before sending it to wd. However, after i did this and restarted my computer i didn't notice the noise anymore. which is wierd. so i'm gona put everything back as it was and use it for a few days and see if the noise comes back, if it doesn't come back then i'll just keep it, if it comes back again i'll send it for replacement.

Sounds like loud spindle whining. That's more common with early 2000s Caviars.

I encountered an early 2000s (2001, IIRC) Caviar that has a loud motor and it don't have errors.

The sound I'm talking about is NOT seeking.