IMac 21'' HDD noise

I have recently started hearing noise emitting from my iMac whenver I install softwares or copy files. Mine iMac is fairly new (7 months old) and the sound was not coming earlier.
Would it be HDD or fan issue?

Contact Apple Service, iMac Service or Apple's Express Lane. Do note that if you have AppleCare's protection plan and you're within 50 miles (80 KM) of an Apple repair station, you're eligible for onsite repair since yours is a desktop machine.

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Early 2008 iMac HDD Noise

Hi everyone,
Technical Specifications for my Early 2008 iMac (per Apple Menu > About This Mac > More Info):
Processor: 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 6 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB
Software: OS X 10.8.1 (12B19)
Storage: 227.34 GB free of 319.21 GB
Discussion:
To my recollection, when I first purchased the iMac, it was silent. Recently, however, I have noticed that the HDD makes an audible, though quiet -- rattle. The Activity Monitor seems to indicate that the sound occurs when the computer writes data to the HDD; that is, when "Data written/sec:" increases from 0 bytes/sec, the sound begins.
I have recorded the sound with 'Voice Memos.app' -- with my iPhone pressed against the back of the iMac -- and have uploaded it here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bpw3tgkw7xco03j/OJC6XK6HLk
In the previous recording, the sound in question may be heard in addition to the iMac's fans.
I've searched various forums and read several discussions about HDD noises, but I haven't come across a sound byte like the one I just posted. If it's a common sound that has people worried, I'd like it to be available for people to hear.
Question:
Does this sound "normal", or is my HDD on its way out? If the latter, how long do you think it'll be before it fails?
Thanks,
Rob
For the curious:
My iMac originally had 2 GB of RAM. Due to the demands of heavy computation, it was necessary to upgrade the RAM. I saw elsewhere that the iMac8,1 model may handle 6 GB of RAM -- despite Apple's claim of 4 GB -- and thus upgraded to 6 GB (purchased from OWC).
Message was edited by: RobL28

Some further information:
I have run:
Apple Hardware Test (AHT) -- though not the extended version
Rember -- to test the RAM, because the extended version of AHT froze during the RAM test
TechTool Deluxe Version 3.1.2
SMARTReporter 2.7
Drive Alert
SMART Utility
None of the above tests have indicated any problem with the hardware. Nevertheless, I understand that these tests can fail to identify problems.

Can I use iMac's HDD as a second, bootable drive for new PC?

When I replace an old PC with a new PC, I always keep the old HDD around in case I need to boot into it for some reason. I simply plug it in, select it as the boot drive, and it's sort of like using my old PC again.
Can I also do this with my iMac's HDD and a new PC? So I could effectively dual boot between my existing Windows OS on my PC's SSD, and OSX using my old iMac's HDD?
When I do this with two HDDs each using Windows, all the drivers for the new hardware "plug-and-play" the first time I boot with the old HDD, so input and display works. I'm not sure if I'll have the same luxury in this scenario or if I'd need to pre-load new drivers so OSX works with the PC's hardware. My iMac has a AMD (well it was still ATI back in 2009) Radeon HD 4850. I had this same card in an old PC so I would hope the display would still work as well, or worst case scenario I could simultaneously use the iMac HDD with the Radeon 4850 in a PC.
I have a lot of computers sitting around and I'm moving soon, so I want to consolidate what I can so I don't have to take so much with me when I move. My iMac's display is no good (barely functional, definitely not pretty) so I don't want to keep the big iMac around anymore if I can just keep the little HDD.
Of course I back up important files and can always read the HDD from a PC, but I'm interested in seeing if I can still use the drive for booting into OSX.
I'm sure someone's tried to do this before, but my searches turned up with nothing. I'll greatly appreciate any guidance, suggestions, or general thoughts about how I could achieve this. I don't mind getting my hands dirty if a solution exists but isn't simple. Thanks in advance for your input!

Hi, are you talking about removing the drive from the iMac to use in a PC?
If your talking about booting the PC into OSX, then google hackintosh.

IMac G5 fan noise

Hi MGW,
Baby Boomer recommended that I check with you about our iMac G5 fan noise since you used to have the same model. For a reference as to what all has been suggested and done go to: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9810894&#9810894
I've done some internet searches and come across some other ideas on what may be the problem and if it is not too much trouble I would be very interested in your thoughts about the suggestions by DeathStalker13 --- please scroll down to #19 at this link:
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=50158
Here is another link that I've found information about iMac G5 fan noise. I'd also like your impression about the methods that these people have done to solve the issue:
http://scienceman.com/legacypgs/00imacG5fanforum.html
I've also contacted a local AASP store and from just our telephone conversation they think just cleaning the fans and inspecting the computer which would take 1-1/2 hours at $95/hour should take care of the problem.
We'd really appreciate you opinion. Thanks!!!

Thank you so much for answering so quickly. I apologize for not being able to do the same. We had unexpected house guests and everything else was set aside while they were here.
This morning I have been researching trying to figure out how to disable Flash but so far I've been unsuccessful. We have a Power PC Mac OS X 10.4.11, Safari version 3.2.1.
Under the Safari "Help" it says, "Safari works with the plug-ins that are installed with Mac OS X. To see a list of installed plug-ins, open Safari and choose Help > Installed Plug-ins."
I checked and the Installed Plug-Ins list only has one "FLASH" listed - Shockwave Flash. I didn't know how to disable it or if I should.
You suggested changing to Firefox or Camino. We already swap between Safari & Firefox (version 3.0.12) for other reasons. Unfortunately, the fan noise is the same whether we use Firefox or Safari.
It was interesting that under Firefox "Help" they recommended disabling Adobe Flash plugin: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Usingthe+Flash+Plugin+withFirefox?style_mode=inproduct
They said something about, "vulnerable to an extremely malicious exploit" and that until Adobe has an update, you can disable Flash. I followed the instructions but the only plug-ins I found were the following:
Default Plug-In
Netscape Navigator Default Plug-In
Java Embedding Plugin 0.9.6.4
Runs Java applets using the latest installed version of Java. For more information: Java Embedding Plugin. Run version test: Java information.
Java Plug-in
Java 1.3.1 Plug-in
Java Plug-In (CFM)
Java 1.3.1 Plug-in (CFM)
QuickTime Plug-in 7.6.2
The QuickTime Plugin allows you to view a wide variety of multimedia content in web pages. For more information, visit the QuickTime web site.
Shockwave Flash
Shockwave Flash 9.0 r159
Shockwave for Director
Macromedia Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 10.1.1
I haven't changed anything yet, as I'm not sure what I should disable. We have considered putting up with the fan noise since it isn't as bad since we cleaned the fans but if there is an easy fix we'd really appreciate your advice. Thanks!

IMac 500GB HDD occupied by 499.25 "other" files while all other types of files show "0 KB", what gives?

iMac 500GB HDD occupied by 499.25 GB "other" files while all other types of files show "0 KB", what gives?
I've tried cleaning up the HDD from HD tool twice and pressed command-option-P-R while restarting the Mac afterwards. The avaliable HDD space "improved" from 1.3 MB to 121 MB after the first restart and descresed down to 119MB after the second restart. I have kept very little AV files as well as doucment files. My application programs are just several GB. Is this a system problem. Do I have to reinstall the system?
Much appreciate any advice!!
BTW Apple customer service is on HOILDAY these two days from where I'm staying...

You may find this Discussioon of interest and value...
https://discussions.apple.com/message/18595469#18595469
From the " More Like This " on the right.

Whats better? iMac with HDD or MAcbook Pro with SSD?

Just like the title says, I am split with what to buy.
I am thinking of the new 27" iMac (1TB HDD) in which I would look to upgrade ram to 16GB. This iMac is the £1,600 one, not the £1,750 one.
OR
The older 13" MacBook Pro (without Retina display) as I would be able to change the HDD to a 480Gb SSD and also upgrade the ram to 16GB.
I wanna know what machine would be faster for any tasks, like faster loading etc. I also use programmes such as Photoshop.
I'm not sure what one would be better as to why I'm asking here. Processing/ load up speeds and also non-lag are what I'm after really.
If any more info is needed, I will reply!
Many thanks!

Ideally I would get the iMac with a SSD but as my parent is partly funding this they don't want to get it off the Apple store directly, as they can get a good work discount through PC World (UK technical store if the USA don't have it ) and they only have the HDD version
But yeah, there's a lot of articles that say for speed and performance, it's the Hard drive and Ram that make the difference and not the processor so although iMac is better in that aspect I think I trust many, many articles aha!

Do you have hdd noise?

I got a mbp 17" c2d w/ hard drive noise, after taking it into store, and talking w/ the technical support, they replaced it for me, today I received it. And the noise is the same. Do all the mbp have hdd noise?
stock standard configuration: 17"/256MVRAM/2GRAM/Core2Duo
I checked the hard drive is hitatchi

Man.
Belive it or not, some HDD's make noise. Nine makes a very very slight chunking sound sometimes, when its working heavily, and is a Hitachi 100gb 7200rpm drive I installed myself. This is perfectly fine and not indicative of problematic behaviour.
Some HD's are more quiet than others.
If the noise is very slight, and is not a very shaarp clicking sound, then you are probably just obsessing.
Maybee the model / manufacterer of the HDD is just of the louder variety, especially since the noise persists after you got it replaced. Hard Drives that are messed up in its early life, are very rare. Otherwise, if a manufacter has heaps of bad drives going out, you get something like the IBM fiasco from a few years back, where people stopped buying their drives.

Why is my iMac making this noise?

Everytime that I do something, my iMac makes this noise. Its anoyying can I fix it? I have an imac with an intel core 2 duo 3.06 ghz processor with 2gb of ram a 500 gb hard drive and an nvidia geforce 8800 gs 512 mb graphics card and i have snow leopard 10.6.3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r80l0NQjz8
Message was edited by: Joann123

Hi Joann123
That sure sounds like the Hard Drive accessing data, some are noisier than others.
For example: the original 160GB Seagate Barracuda that came in my Early 2006 Core Duo sounded about the same. After using it in the iMac for 3 years I took it out and put it into an External drive, another year later it still sounds the same but works just fine as an extra backup drive for my music and photos.
I don't think that it is going to fail tomorrow, but if it really bothers you that much backup to be safe and by all means contact Apple as explained by those that have replied in your other thread.
Dennis

Fan and HDD noise

Hey guys!
I recently noticed the fan on my macbook pro mid 2012 13 inch to be a tad noiser than what it's use too, before the mac was so quiet you could hardly hear it working, now you can hear the fan noticably.
I checked out the fan app and it's roughly doing 2000rpm with the temp on the app saying it's around 48 - 52 degrees celsius when nothing is running other than safari.
I then used the temp app and got these results:
http://puu.sh/6QwfB.png
http://puu.sh/6Qwh8.png
I have also noticed over the last day that the HDD has got noiser, after running a S.M.A.R.T test it came back as verified but i am almost 100% sure that it is more noticable than before. The sound i hear is the read/write sound, i checked to make sure nothing was running and finder was not indexing or anything, it just to me sounds louder. obviously, as the mac is from mid 2012 it could of had some use so i am a bit worried about the noise incase it is starting to fail! (all files have been backed up)
I then noticed some issues with the windows partition i made with bootcamp, it became unbearably slow and would often crash when loading up chrome which is what it was not like before, i assume this points towards something wrong with the hard drive but i am yet to see any issues with OSX (will be taking it to lectures next week so im sure i can spot any issues then as i will be using it a fair bit!)
I hope i don't sound like too much of an idiot, i bought this macbook pro second hand (still has a year left of apple care!) and i am not 100% sure if the figures i have given are normal. I can live with the fan noise but the HDD noise is driving me insaine when in a quiet room!
Hope this is just me being silly, as i said im new to the macbook experience and hope to stay this way, hoping these are common things of a macbook and i'm just being a bit OTT.
Thanks!

Okay,
Just checked my console and this one error pops up:
10/02/2014 12:06:48.000 kernel[0]: SMC::smcReadKeyAction ERROR TC0D kSMCBadArgumentError(0x89) fKeyHashTable=0x0xffffff801c040000
It seems to be doing it every 3 seconds or so!
EDIT: fixed this, was an app causing it!

After getting my 2007 imac's HDD repaired, the super drive stopped working... How can i fix this?

After getting my 2009 imac's HDD repaired the super drive wont work anymore... How can I resolve this?!

I think you need to contact the repairer, and explain the problem as something may not have been reconnected properly on the re-assembly. That is not to be assumed as fact, so taking a diplomatic approach along these lines in negotiation would be in your interest.

Imac makes loud noises almost gurgling sound?

imac makes loud noises almost gurgling sound?

Does the gurgling stop when you mute the sound? In other words, is it coming from the speakers? If so, see below.
Bubbling water sound
Imac makes this bubbling sound
Noises

Late 09 iMac waking HDDs Help

Hi,
Ever since updating my late 09 iMac to ML it seems to be waking all HDDs attached including the internal drive every two or so hours while asleep. I am unsure what it is doing when it turns them on but it can wake me up and I know it isn't very good for all drives to keep doing that. It seems like its acting as if its in Power Nap which is impossible.
What could be cauisng my iMacs phantom HDD behivour and how can I stop it doing it?
Thanks

Is the computer screen staying off when it wakes?
If so what your experiencing is "wake for network access" ironically there are threads on here where myself included are not happy that since upgrading to ML its not working properly for us.
Go to system preferences/energy saver and untick the wake for network access tab and this should stop this happening for you.
Drew

IMac 5K whining noise

Hi my iMac 5K now is starting to whine, it is intermediate, the noise can be audible when idle or doing some task typically not that CPU intensive or room is silent, and faintly when there are some ambient noise. But not all the time.
I would imagine it would starting to become more and more prevalent... is it just a type of rattle? or something.

Could be anything from the Cooling Fan, the HDD (if applicable) to the Backlight Inverter.
If it bothers you, you should use that 90 day free phone support or that 1 year hardware warranty and have it checked out.
http://www.apple.com/support/contact/

New 27" i3 iMac noisy HDD

Just bought a 27" i3 iMac at Best Buy yesterday. As soon as I turn it on, I can hear what sounds like a stomach grumble, similar to when you're hungry. Very, very frustrating. It seems to happen when I'm loading applications or scrolling through several songs in iTunes or pictures in iPhoto. It's as if the HDD is being accessed and it makes a sound when you want to get something.

I have a similar harddisk 'stomach' grumble in my brand new 27" iMac. Scrolling through a webpage, typing in a document, using iPhoto, it's always there. This seems to be the sound a harddisk is supposed to make, but it's driving me crazy. I had my HDD ( 1TB seagate ST31000528AS ) replaced by another one ( same model ) and it didn't make any difference. So now i'm considering upgrading to a 2TB hitachi, which should make considerably less noise. Anyone has experience with this? I've worked on previous iMacs and could hear a little disk activity when copying files or installing something but not like this. It's embarrassing when people see my new mac and they hear the sound it makes...

IMac´s extrange noise

Hello. I Have an iMac mid 2011. When the computer turns off, it makes a extrange noise, the same when the electricity is interrupted.
In August I had to go to the Apple Store because the HDD was broken and this drive wasn´t a year!. Is the second HDD I´ve changed.
Probably, this hard drive will be broken too.
What can I do?.
Thank you.

I believe that with repairs of the nature you mention, the components are guaranteed for 12 months. So replacements should be cost free. All the same, there is a nuisance with all the too-ing and fro-ing and I would be inclined to go to the store and insist on Management attention to your complaint as a whole. I'm sure you will approach them nicely. I hope you bought Apple Care when you bought your machine.

IMac 21'' HDD noise

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