Stop your PC from grinding before it grinds you

If you have a personal computer that suddenly starts making grinding noises, you may be experiencing one of two scenarios:

1. The “Good” Scenario: the noise is a nuisance that is easily fixed with no major issues.
2. The “Not Good” Scenario: the noise is a devastating issue that can stop your computer and lose your files.

The “Good” Scenario

Computers produce a lot of heat, so they have fans built into them to keep them cool. Your computer fan may need a cleaning, or a look to see if something is obstructing the fan blades.

Although this isn’t good, it’s an easy fix. You just need to clean or remove whatever is obstructing the fan. There are plenty of YouTube videos on how to clean your computer fan, including this one (How to Clean Inside of Computer) by I.T. Career Questions:

As long as you are comfortable cleaning the fan or removing the obstruction, it’s a simple solution to a simple problem. If you’re not the DIY type, a computer repair shop can help.

The “Not Good” Scenario

The noisy, grinding sound you hear may, in fact, be a failing hard drive. This may be the case if your computer:

1. Slows down or freezes.
2. Displays frequent error messages while running software.
3. Crashes programs or detects disk errors.
4. Shows strange behaviour.

If this sounds familiar, then something is likely wrong with your hard drive, and you need to back up your computer now before you see the famous Blue Screen of Death (BOSD) or it just shuts down and stops working.

This type of malfunction is why it’s always important to back up your computer system and files. You should always be proactive about maintaining your computer’s hardware, as I wrote in this post: “The Importance of Updating Your Computer Hardware.” If you’re not, and the computer breaks down, there’s a good chance your files are gone for good.

Once you back up your computer, you should contact a computer repair shop immediately. If you don’t know how to back up your computer, call the repair shop before you do anything.

At 365 Technologies, we diagnose our clients’ computer hardware regularly to ensure they never lose time or documents. It’s Worry-Free IT™.

If you have questions about IT, send us a message at sales@365tech.ca or call us at 204-488-3655 and we’ll be happy to chat.