Why Is My Hard Drive Always Spinning?

Why is My Hard Drive Always Spinning?

Your hard drive can keep spinning for a multitude of reasons like too much load, corruption, and overuse. For more details, read below for the possible causes behind your constantly spinning hard drive.

 

ACCESSING LARGER THAN NORMAL

 

• WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

It is very difficult to identify whether the noise coming from your hard drive is a normal sound or is an indicator of a failed drive.

However, if you notice your hard drive spinning too fast and making loud noises, then you are probably overburdening, and working the hard drive too much.

Check what apps, programs, and files you are using. If they are big, then these programs are causing your drive to unnecessary work.

 

• WHAT HAPPENS?

Every PC has a limited stock of memory. When you exhaust this memory beyond its capacity, what happens is that the device will switch to the drive for reading information.

Every time you use and launch a large file, program, app, the disk will have to work, instead of the device itself.

This additional work certainly creates a burden on the hard drive causing it to spin faster than the normal. You might even hear loud noises when you access such programs and files.

 

TOO MUCH HAPPENING IN THE BACKGROUND

• WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

It simply means that there is too much going on in the background on your device. These background tasks are overworking, not only your device, but also your hard drive.

It again causes it to overwork itself, leading to constant and faster spinning and loud noises.

 

• WHAT HAPPENS?

Your computer may have a multitude of tasks running in the background like critical system updates, virus scans, malware scans, and installation of some programs.

These background tasks are using your hard drive, as well.

If there is a backlog of background tasks and your device has to constantly run these background tasks, your hard drive is overworked. This could point to your hard drive, making noises and constantly spinning at a faster speed.

 

VIRUS INFESTATION

 

• WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

If a virus attacks your device, it is more than likely that your hard drive is under threat.

 

• WHAT HAPPENS?

What happens is that a virus infestation can impact your hard drive. It can downgrade your hard drive’s performance and ability to do its everyday tasks.

A virus or malware attack can lead to your hard drive making strange noises while spinning at a rate beyond the normal.

 

How to stop my hard drive from spinning?

You can put an end to your hard drive’s constant, out of control spinning with various methods like disk fragmentation, running checks in safe mode, checking for virus and malware attacks, and the like.

Before you go about fixing a hard drive spinning constantly, consider the following:

1. If you are technologically savvy, then go ahead and try these solutions to fix your spinning hard drive.
2. If you lack the technical experience, you must seek professional help. However, if you are comfortable trying out these solutions, then you should do it.
3. Furthermore, it is better to have a copy of your essential data as a backup, just in case something goes wrong.
4. Make use of the warranty period.

 

METHOD 1: DEFRAGMENT YOUR HARD DRIVE

1. To defragment your disk, use the disk defragmenter.
2. To do this, click on the start button.
3. Type in Disk Defragmenter in the search box.
4. From the search results list, choose the Disk Defragmenter option on the display screen of your PC or laptop.
5. A new window will open up. Click on the disk that required defragmentation.
6. You will find the disk under the Current Status option.
7. Now, select Analyze disk. This will help you decide if you need to defragment your disk or not.
8. During this activity, your laptop may put up a prompt for an administrator password. Type in the password and press Enter.
9. The device may ask you to provide confirmation. In this case, do what is needed.
10. Once your system is over with the analysis, take a look at the percentage of fragmentation on the disk. It is visible in the Last Run column.
11. If the percentage is more than 10%, go ahead and do the defragment the disk.
12. For this, click on the Defragment Disk. Again, a prompt for password and/ or confirmation may pop up again. Just type in the password and confirm.
13. Check to see if the problem persists.

 

METHOD 2: RUN THE chkdsk TEST IN SAFE MODE

Hard disks may end up facing problems or performance failures sometime in the future. One of these errors is the constant and out of control spinning.

You can fix this easily. Just make use of the Windows chkdsk program. Run this command.

To do so, type in the command chkdsk X: /f.

To allow your system to do so, input Y. Your system will restart and run the command mentioned above.

 

Laptop hard drive keeps spinning up

If your laptop hard drive keeps spinning up, then some of the causes as to why this is happening are as follows:

1. Overworked hard drive
2. Drive wear and tear
3. Virus and malware attack
4. Too many files, programs and
5. Background activity.

To fix this, try the following:

 

METHOD 1: MAKE CERTAIN ADJUSTMENTS

1. Begin by clicking on Start.
2. Navigate to Settings and click on System.
3. From there, move to the Power and Sleep option.
4. Now, customize your settings to stop the unnecessary spinning, especially when you are not active.
5. To enable customization, click on the Additional Power settings option on the Power and sleep screen.
6. This will open up another screen. Select Change Plan settings from the Balanced settings that were set as default on your laptop.
7. From here, simply change the settings to Power saver.
8. Now, click on Change additional power settings option.
9. This will display a whole set of items. You will find the option to change Hard Disk Settings.
10. You can raise or lower the duration for which the drive is active or inactive.

 

METHOD 2: RUN THE chkdsk TEST IN SAFE MODE

Additionally, you can fix the constant spinning easily, as mentioned above.

1. Just make use of the Windows chkdsk program. Run this command.
2. To do so, type in the command chkdsk X: /f.
3. To allow your system to do so, input Y. Your system will restart and run the command mentioned above.

 

Why does my hard drive spin and then stop?

If your hard drive is spinning and then stopping, the possible reasons have been mentioned above. They are:

• Overworked hard drive
• Too much background activity
• Virus and Malware attack

Some of the additional causes are:

A WORN-OUT DRIVE

A worn-out drive is a possible reason when you have been using the hard drive for a long time. If the drive is a few years old, then the reason for its loud and random spinning and stopping is just the wear and tear.

Your hard drive may have had to encounter this because of various reasons.

Internal components of the drive, like the spindling bearings, heads, and material, may have faced damage. This may have caused your hard drive to spin and stop.

All in all, the best thing you can do here is to replace or repair it. This will depend on the extent of the damage. Seek a professional’s opinion.

 

A DAMAGED HARD DRIVE

Another reason as to why your hard drive spins and stops randomly is because of possible physical damage rendered to your hard drive.

If the drive has been in use for way too long, then physical damage to your hard drive is possible.

Physical damage can happen in the following manner:

• Accidental dropping
• Damage during repair
• Damage because of internal physical damage.

You may have to replace it. Also, ensure that you back up the data for safekeeping.

 

HDD keeps starting and stopping

As mentioned above, physical damage to the drive, virus attacks, outdated drive, worn-out drive, etc. are some of the reasons behind your hard disk drive starting and stopping.

 

METHOD 1: TURN OFF THE MASS STORAGE

You can disable your PC for the same.

1. Furthermore, press the Windows key and the letter x key together.
2. This will display a menu.
3. From the menu, choose Device Manager.
4. Next, navigate to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller. Then, click on the USB mass storage device.
5. Now, click on the Power Management tab.
6. Uncheck the box for the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
7. Click on OK.
8. This will prevent the random start and stop.

 

Hard drive making loud spinning noise

If your hard drive is making loud spinning noises, then the possible reasons are:

1. A worn out and used Drive.
2. Virus and malware attack
3. Physically/ internally damaged drive
4. Too many files, programs and
5. Too much Background activity

 

Before you begin, consider the following advice:

1. Find out the source of the loud noise. Ensure that it is the hard drive that is creating loud noises and not something else.
2. For this, try unplugging the power and data cables. If you still hear some noise while booting the computer, then the hard drive is not the one responsible for the loud noises.
3. If you lack the technical experience, you must seek a technician’s help. However, if you feel confident about trying out these solutions, then you should go for it.
4. Furthermore, it is better to have a copy of your precious data for safekeeping just in case something goes wrong.
5. Make sure that you use the warranty period if available.

 

METHOD 1: RUN DIAGNOSTIC TESTS

If your hard drive is making loud noises, then run the free hard drive diagnostic software. The software is usually available on the computer. If you cannot find it on your device, it is available on the Internet. You can access it from here.

Run diagnostic tests and check to see if the problem persists.

Make sure that you close all programs and turn off the background activity while running diagnostic software. This will give you the best results.

Further, you need to keep in mind that this will only point to your hard drive’s faulty areas. It will prevent the computer or laptop from using these areas. Other than that, it won’t fix it completely.