4TB WD HDD making noises every 5 seconds ...

[Darkwave Dahlia]

... which kinda reminds me of the problem with Windows 10 and the APM settings.
The thing is: I tried several tools from the internet - nothing worked. Anything else? Because it just gets on my nerves big times ...

Specs (if relevant)

Storage

3726GB Western Digital WDC WD4005FZBX-00K5WB0 (SATA )
232GB Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 250GB (Unknown (SSD))
1863GB Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB (Unknown (SSD))

CPU

Intel Core i9-9900KF @ 3.60GHz

GPU

3071MB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (MSI)

Additional Information
- On the front of the computer (case is a beQuiet), the left LED keeps blinking like crazy.
- The noise sounds like a faint "knocking". I think it's caused by APM function which parks HDD heads too often.

Question

How do I make the intervals longer e. g. 10 minutes? Or remove the APM completely? Several tools I downloaded look fancy but do nothing at all. And if you know the answer, please: ELI5.

[The Giving One]

Are you sure it is the HDD and not say, a cooling fan ?

I have a 200mm in the front of my case that has been knocking just like you described here for a few months, but so far, it has not failed yet. I did see you said the HDD light is blinking a bit much, but just asking.

[Muppet among Puppets]

Is it like a tick?
Is the drive all silent apart from that? Or does the sound have its place in the action as well?

[Darkwave Dahlia]

Aye. It's the HDD. I was able to exclude all other components and narrow down the error to the HDD.

[Darkwave Dahlia]

Originally posted by Muppet among Puppets:

Is it like a tick?
Is the drive all silent apart from that? Or does the sound have its place in the action as well?

Everything is quiet except for this ticking, which occurs regularly every 5 seconds.

[Muppet among Puppets]

Better ask in a forum about hardware.
I heard the wd blue act like green now.

[Jack Schitt]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Are you sure it is the HDD and not say, a cooling fan ?

I have a 200mm in the front of my case that has been knocking just like you described here for a few months, but so far, it has not failed yet. I did see you said the HDD light is blinking a bit much, but just asking.

I agree and second that same question and statement. Are you sure it's not a fan?
Me too. I have a giant fan on the top of my case that's...well it's 12 years old and has been through hell. The spring in the motor doesn't hold it up in to position away from hitting anything anymore so the blades wack off the case. I shut it off sometimes.

An HDD is mechanical. There's quite a bit of metal inside of them. If it's truly the hard drive making a loud ticking noise it's not going to last much longer because it's metal on metal making the noise. It's going to shred it self internally. Software tools and utilities aren't going to fix that. The only thing that's going to fix that is replacing it.
Be absolutely sure it's the hard drive making the noise first before replacing it.

Unplug the fans so they don't run if they don't have switches to turn them off in the wires. Don't turn them all off, just one by one and leave the rest running so the pc doesn't overheat. If the fans have switches on them or on the wires that be can done with the computer running. If you have to unplug them shut the computer completely off before unplugging them.

[Darkwave Dahlia]

I assure you it's the HDD. It's like you didn't even bother reading the OP. I ask about the APM and not the source of the noise for I already know it's the HDD. And if you may or may not be aware of the fact that there are dozens of people having the exact same problem without a "failing HDD", because it's not the HDD failing, it's the APM which mostly Affects Western Digital drives. Hence the question specifically asking "how to remove" the APM and not "What's grinding the metal inside my machine".

Sorry, but no ...

And yes, I already tested without anything that could make other noises like fans etc.

[Muppet among Puppets]

And if the hdd is used its silent as you said.

[Jack Schitt]

APM is easy to disable. It's a setting you can get to from the device manager.
You can assclown around with advanced power management all you want. It's not going to change the fact that something has worn out mechanically inside the drive and is slowly destroying it internally, mechanically.

[Muppet among Puppets]

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

APM is easy to disable. It's a setting you can get to from the device manager.
You can assclown around with advanced power management all you want. It's not going to change the fact that something has worn out mechanically inside the drive and is slowly destroying it internally, mechanically.

Some drives make sounds, even the sounds of "calculating computers" from the 90s.

[Jack Schitt]

Learn what Advanced Power Management is and does:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Power_Management

It's not going to help you with a ticking noise. Hard drives should not make noise. If they're making noise other than a spinning noise that's a mechanical problem that's eventually going to cause them to fail. Yes, they can last for years because it's superiorly hardened metal inside of them, but it is eventually going to cause it to fail.

[Nevermind]

1863 GB SSD ??? ....im gettin old

[Komrade]

Originally posted by Neverevermind:

1863 GB SSD ??? ....im gettin old

2TB, nothing really new.

[dbPieter]

There is good news and bad news:

Good news:
This ticking is actually expanding your HDD's lifetime. It basically moves the head to reduce some kind of build-up source [support-en.wd.com]

Bad news:
This means that there is no solution if you (like me) really want to get rid of the annoying sound.
WD states that this sound might be more noticeable during HDD idle and when attached to bare metal.

This is a stupid statement imo. My new WD black is attached to my HDD cage with silicone which already muffles all sound of my older WD black. This is also inside a padded Be Quiet! Silent base 800 (the one without a window). I still hear the clicking when I have my headphones on and no sound.

Not sure what I'm going to do with this.

[chiefputsilao✖️ping]

perhaps read and write activity on the 'noisy' hard drive. games installation, antivirus scanning activity
try to set your antivirus to game mode and see if it helps.