Screeching Noise from left side of IBook G4, please help!

Question

Hi,
Last night my Ibook G4 froze up so I powered it off for a few. Then I went to turn it back on and it just went to a blank grey screen, so I let it sit over night and cool down, this morning I go to turn it on and it makes this god awful screeching sound when I boot it up. It's coming from the bottom left of the laptop, right next to the USB ports...It sounds like a high pitched smoke alram, and at certain points it will go away depending on how i hold it. Any help please? What should I be looking for, it still wont boot past the grey screen? Thanks.
Liam

Answer 1

GotGuinness:
If the back up doesnt go as planned, can I back up after I go through the things listed above?
The best way to protect your stuff is to always have a current backup of everything. This is especially important before any major procedure or upgrade. Dr. Smoke's FAQ Backup and Recovery has excellent suggestions on developing a backup strategy. Here is how I suggest you proceed:
You will need an external firewire HDD like this one at OWC. I suggest a minimum of 250 GB, which can partitioned so that the first partition is the size of your internal HDD as suggested in Dr. Smoke's article. You should also get one with the more reliable Oxford 911+ chipset.
You should then use a utility like SuperDuper to clone the entire internal HDD to the partition on the external HDD.
You can then use SuperDuper to keep your backup up-to-date.
I looking at a new HD? If so, whats the cost on that
You need a 2.5" (P)ATA/IDE drive up to 250 GB for your computer. 7200 drives currently come in capacities up to 100 GB, while 5400 rpm currently come in sizes up to 250 GB. Here is a list of available HDDs at OWC. Most manufacturers off a 3 year warranty, while Seagate offers a 5 year warranty. Seagate drives have highest user satisfaction ratings.
Installing a new HDD on a iBook is a bit of challenge, but it is doable. You will find directions at ifixit. If you think you would like to attempt this, please post back for additional tips.
im assuming i'd lose all my saved docs and music on my previous HD?
If you clone your HDD you will be able to restore from your cloned backup you will be able to restore to your newly installed HDD.
Good luck.
cornelius