Hi! Earlier today, while I was just opening 8 youtube tabs in IE7, I heard this weird noise from the front section of my pc. It was like a winged insect fluttering around a small container. The noise seemed to come from the front case fan. Anyway, it was just continuous. Then, all of a sudden, it stopped when I opened my computer. Then, when i restarted, the noise was there again. I tried opening the case but I didn't know where to pinpoint the sound - the 2 hard drives or the front fan. Anyway, I just tried to take of the power and IDE in the second hard drive and turned it on again. Apparently the front fan was also connected so both were out. The noise was also gone. I decided to clean everything inside a bit and do a little dusting. After reconnecting everything, the noise returned. Then I tried defragmenting C:\. I could hear a 2nd noise (the normal sound of a hard drive accessing data) apart from the fluttering insect wings noise. Then when it was 20% in defragmenting, the noise disappeared. And it hasn't reappeared for the moment.

Anyway, now I'm more confused now then I was when the problem began. Could anyone help me out? Could the problem be with the fan bearings/something stuck in it? Or the 2nd hard drive? And how could defragmenting take away the noise (or was it coincidental)? Oh yeah, everything was working ok when the noise was there. No hanging, freezing, restarts, lags...

Confused and depressed as a result

The fan will either take its power from the motherboard or the PSU, unplug it and see if the noise continues. If it doesn't then you know where the noise is coming from. If it is the fan it could be that a wire has fallen across the blades.

If it isn't the fan then it could be the hdd, if this is the case then I would start backing up all the files that you want to save as this is known as "the click of death" and usually means that the hdd is failing. Does your computer operate properly?
One other thing you can try to locate the noise is to take a wooden spoon and place the end of the handle against the hdd and place you ear to the spoon section, if it is the hdd you will be able to hear the clicking noise through the spoon.

It is and has been working properly so far (no errors or hangs)

I couldn't hear those trademark clicks though. It was more like a flying moth outside you window trying to get in. Only thing though is the noise has disappeared after I defragged so I am unable to do the tests you suggested.

It could be the wires but I tried pushing them earlier out of the way with a ruler and the noise persisted. Funny thing was when I was in the middle of defragging, that was when the noise disappeared. How could the wire have moved out of the way? Anyway, could it be something inside the fan? And regarding the HD noise, when I was in defrag I heard the typical hard drive operating/loading sound over the weird noise. Is it possible for a hard drive to make two distinct types of sounds (noisy fluttering + normal loading)?

Thanks

This is probably gunna be a dumb question, but do you think you might actually have a bug in your computer? Not a glitch, like an actual insect? Cause you keep using the winged insect analogy and it's really startin to bug me (no pun intended).

Regards,
TheYoda

none. opened it up and dusted it a bit

Didn't think so, but it was worth a try.

Do you have 2 harddrives in your computer or 1?

Regards,
TheYoda

2 hard drives

Is it RAID or is one drive the OS and the other storage?

If it's storage, disconnect it and the fan to see if the noise still occurs. If it does, than you know your harddrives on its way out.

Regards,
TheYoda

What is RAID? One is OS, the other storage... The noise hasn't reappeared though.

RAID

If the noise hasn't resurfaced, I'd say your all clear. It might of, as mention, been just a wire in a fan. If it occurs again, let us know.

Regards,
TheYoda

Will do! Thanks! I'm having the front fan replaced just to make extra sure.

Thanks as well for the RAID link ... although it looked alien to me. Haha, I'm more of a ditz when it comes to these things.

Glad to hear that the noise has stopped, if the fan is working I wouldn't worry about replacing it.