My hard drive makes a grinding noise when I turn my mac on. Also my Mac is running very slowly even though it has an i7 with 8GB of RAM.

Please Help!!

olliedog11
Is there a way to fix this?
Yes and no......99.9% NO however.
When a HD dies its like asking about "cleaning a used paper towell"..........no.
$70 for a nice 1TB HD replacement, very easy to do , see videos posted above for you on replacing your HD.
In the future ALWAYS have a HD clone!
HD clones
Advantages:
1. HD clones are the best, quickest way to get back to 100% full operation in mere seconds.
2. Once a HD clone is created, the creation software (Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper) is no longer needed whatsoever, and unlike TM, which requires complex software for its operational transference of data, a HD clone is its own bootable entity.
3. HD clones are unconnected and isolated from recent corruption.
4. HD clones allow a “portable copy” of your computer that you can likewise connect to another same Mac and have all your APPS and data at hand, which is extremely useful.
5. Rather than, as many users do, thinking of a HD clone as a “complimentary backup” to the use of TM, a HD clone is superior to TM both in ease of returning to 100% quickly, and its autonomous nature; while each has its place, TM can and does fill the gap in, say, a 2 week old clone. As an analogy, the HD clone itself is the brick wall of protection, whereas TM can be thought of as the mortar, which will fill any cracks in data on a week, 2-week, or 1-month old HD clone.
6. Best-idealized 2nd platform redundancy for data protection, and 1st level for system restore of your computers internal HD. (Time machine being 2nd level for system restore of the computer’s internal HD).

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Thanks and happy new year!

Ha... "Cheers" is not convincing coming from an angry man like you.
In English PC stands for Personal Computer:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=personal%20computer
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer
So a Mac and a Windows Machine can both be a PC. In fact I believe Apple coined the phrase PC, but I could be wrong.
I've been using Mac for 20 years, never had any issues. However my windows machines are very inefficient, it's difficult to get them to work with a printer, much less any of the multi media apps and equipment I use. My windows Machines are useful to me as test boxes and running some apps I don't have on my Macs. Sure Office works great on them, but I don't do spread sheets and such for a living.
I'm sorry that you are having bad luck, or are you making this up? You are a apple rep? Do they know that you are posting on the Apple site and advising users to buy a PC, hmm George Lelapinou the French Apple hater?
So, sorry old comrade but PC stands for personal computer, not Microsoft, and my PC is working 100% now, as my Macs always do, it appears it just needed to be cleaned. Now if only my crappy Peugeot would work after getting cleaned... I joke, I kid, iJoke.

My Mac is running very slowly especially when I am using Facebook and related products. What can I do to fix this?

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Thanks for your reply. Well, I am not sure about the OS X version, I just gave that info from the Install DVD. I have the machine on automatic updates so I guess I am using a newer version. I know it is iMac Snow Leopard and I bought it in 2009. It is the 21.5 inch model. That is all I can tell you. I have 499GB and have used only 32GB, so it isn't a space problem.

Are the macs supposed to make a grinding noise when its starting up?

I just bought my macbook pro today! When i turn on the mac it makes a grinding noise by the pad on the right side. Is this normal?

The hard drive is located under the right palmrest and, no, it shouldn't be making any sort of grinding noise. Take it back to your Apple Store and have them hear it. Normally, if the hard drive is dying, you may hear a chirping noise, but no grinding noise!
Good luck,
Clinton

Hard Drive Makes a Clicking Noise

My Macbook Pro 2.53 Hardrive makes a clicking noise when I pick up my computer while its on. I know the disk is spinning but none of my other macs do this.

Hi mattzarr, welcome to Apple Discussions!
The clicking is just the sudden motion sensor in the computer parking the heads on the HD to protect your data from damage. When moving a spinning HD, there is always the possibility that the reading head (like the needle on a record player) may contact the spinning surface, causing damage. That clicking is the head parking away from the spinning disk, preventing it from damage.
It is only found on Apple's notebooks, and was introduced sometime around the 3rd last Powerbook G4 generation, if I remember correctly.
--Travis

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When I plug my external hard drive into my PowerBook G4, it makes a odd clicking noise, the light flashes, and it never appears as a drive in my computer.
This is a clear sign of a broken platter, but when I plug the same drive into my Windows laptop it works perfectly. All the files are there, no noticeable problems. (The hard drive is formatted to FAT32, so it should be working with both computers.)
The USB ports are working fine on the Mac laptop, as I have tried the hard drive in each port and have the same problem, while I have tried other things in the ports and they work fine.
Thanks!

I have a very similar problem with an external hard drive that I recently purchased. It makes a clicking noise but doesn't show up on as a drive on the desktop. I have looked in Disk Utility to configure the drive but it doesn't show up as an option as well. I went to the manufacturer website for support and it tells me that this is expected and that the recommended solution is to "initialize (partition and format) the drive with the Mac OS using the OS disk utility. Following the initialization, the drive will be identified almost immediately upon being connected to the system." (I don't need to use the hard drive on a PC for any reason.)
My question - is this safe to do? If so, how many times do I need to partition?

Why does my macbook pro make a clicking noise when i turn it on?

I turned it on yesterday after owning it for just three days and when theres the white screen with the apple logo is when it makes the noise. The noise is like a CD being ejected. I have no disc in the CD drive though. Please help me. Should i bring it bac the the apple store?

Take it back to the Apple store as this is not normal.

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My iMac is 2 years old. I have noticed that when I put it to sleep, the hard drive makes a
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temporariily shut off my Lacie, but the clicking sound persists. It also seems to me that at
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I never hear the clicking noise when I am using my iMac.
I read many posts about other iMac owners having a similar problem. One "suggestion" was that
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Any suggestions (or directing me to a thread that specifically addresses this issue) would be
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In any case, if I need to call Apple Tech (I have 1 year left on my warranty coverage), I would like
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I have since called Apple Support about the problem. They did not solve it, but did offer to call back. I was unable to be home for the call back. I will call them again, but they did not seem to be aware of any "clicking" problems the iMacs were having.
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My iMac does not make the clicking/pinging noise while not in Sleep mode.
I have searched the Net and these forums repeatedly trying to find someone who has had a similar "clicking" sound. One fellow suggested his hard drive clicked in Sleep mode because it was looking for a printer. That is not the problem I am having, since all printer jobs have been completed.
If any of you could help me on this or direct me to a thread that addresses the issue, I would appreciate it immensely.
Thanks.

Machine will not boot; hard drive makes clicking noise

My G4 will not boot up.
Here are the symptoms:
It passed the hardware test;
Will not perform a safe start - so cannot run disk utility;
Hard drive makes a clicking noise.
I'd appreciate any advice about how to proceed.
pdh

Yes, as mentioned backup now. best not to use your Mac till you do. The drive may fail for good. Here's some tips on replacing your drive (they are pretty inexpensive now);
This is by SDMacuser,
Even if you have never installed nor pulled a HD from a Powermac...... trust me....it is not all that difficult.
I can actually switch internal HD's among 3 separate G4 Towers I own in a matter of minutes (often less than 10 minutes).
Simply power the system down and ground yourself (a grounding strap is recommended or at the very least touching the metal frame to discharge any potential static electricity prior to actually touching the HD or any internal components on your system).
Disconnect the power cable to the back of the HD, then the long ide connector on the back of the HD / cable (pull straight back while grasping the black connector with 2 fingers ... do not yank the actual ribbon cable).
All of my HD's are mounted or bolted to their own metal sleds (either single sled or a dual sled) with 4 screws.
Unscrew the small screw (philips) holding the sled in place on position one below the ide connector or cable. And gently remove the sled & HD from the Powermac without bumping / damaging other internal components.
Remove the 4 screws from the sled itself holding the HD in place. Be careful not to allow the drive to fall once all screws have been removed.
Install the new HD (and make sure to address proper jumpers on the back of the HD itself.)
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btw ... there are a few QT demos on apples web sites showing how to do this.
 Cheers! DALE

How much noise should the hard drive make on a MBP early 2011?

Had since May/June last year i5 13" and only since I applied all updates few weeks ago it seems to be louder than it was before?
It sounds like a fan but isn't... obviously. Right hand side of track pad, and covering it, in fact just touching it dampens it to barely audible. Is that normal or has something gone a bit weird? A constant fan noise, which isn't the fan is now there permanently.

How much noise should the hard drive make on a MBP early 2011?
None.
The machine should only make noise if the Superdrive is being used or the CPU's heavily used, going by my Early 2011 17".
It sounds like a fan but isn't... obviously. Right hand side of track pad, and covering it, in fact just touching it dampens it to barely audible. Is that normal or has something gone a bit weird? A constant fan noise, which isn't the fan is now there permanently.
It's possible it wasn't installed correctly and/or the case is slightly off so it's resonating the hard drive vibrations.
Make sure you have a internet connection (don't move) and reboot the machine holding the d key down like forever and Hardware Test will run.
Backup your data off the machine, if the hard drive dies under 1 year or three years with Applecare, then go get a new one. else you can replace it yourself with a better one and not void your warranty if you don't break anything doing so. Add more RAM while your at it.
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/
As you know Mac's are made by hand by young Chinese women working 12 hour shifts performing the same function every 7 seconds for only $1.20 a hour. They live 7 to a box room and have to pay 70¢ a meal.
All in all I would say they are very tired, and it's possilbe a few defects made it to your machine.

When using Time Machine, if I delete items from my computer, will they still be backed up to access later on my external hard drive? In other words, when time machine backs up again, will it delete the files from the back up?

When using Time Machine, if I delete items from my computer, will they still be backed up to access later on my external hard drive?
In other words, when time machine backs up again, will it delete the files from the back up that I have deleted from my computer?

No, I do not believe so. Time Machine would keep all those now-deleted files in previous backups, and as time goes by those backups might be deleted if you needed room, but it would still keep one backup from each day in last month, as well as one from each week forever, as long as you don't start running out of room, then just the oldest would be deleted to make room if needed.
I use a backup drive about double the size of my drive to be backed up, so I would guess it will never get to the point where deleted files being replaced by new ones being backed fill up that drive to the point where backups actually have to get deleted.

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Thanks.
-Serena

Nope, thats perfectly normal mine does that too. Its just the DVD/ CD-RW drive waking up as well a bit annoying but again normal.

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Rich

In Finder's Menu, select Go menu>Go to Folder, and go to "/volumes". (no quotes)
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If it does contain data...
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2474

HT4914 if you use iTunes match in order to create space and remove music from your hard drive, does that happen automatically when you subscribe and upload your music or is there another step to remove the music from your hard drive once you've uploaded t

if you use iTunes match in order to create space and remove music from your hard drive, does that happen automatically when you subscribe and upload your music or is there another step to remove the music from your hard drive once you've uploaded to iTunes match?

Welcome to the Apple Community.
iTunes match won't automatically remove content from your computer, if you want to do that you will need to do it manually yourself.

My hard drive makes a grinding noise when I turn my mac on. Also my Mac is running very slowly even though it has an i7 with 8GB of RAM.

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