why does my computer make a horrible sound on bootup?

HDD has mechanical component, and need to be subject to proper handling. Drive shock specification during non-operation is about 300G while during operation is about 30G. 300G is about 3-inch drop to hard surface. Imagine just 30G during operation, so have to be careful when moving your desktop around.

There are software to download that can check for the SMART failure.

 

Did he tryed to unplug the HDD ? and see if it make this sound?

 

Thanks for the info Mike and initially shedokan mentioned SMART error codes but didn't specify his drive model or manufacturer. SMART is usually enabled by default on most mobos and I wanted to make sure his HD was SMART compatible. Eliminating all possibilities while troubleshooting.

Nice to know a bit more about how it works though never needed to use it

 

Well, just FYI. S.M.A.R.Ts stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology. It a firmware feature built-in to most of the drives. Below are some S.M.A.R.T. explanation:-

S.M.A.R.T. is an attempt to predict imminent drive failure by monitoring drive performance and calibration characteristics.

Error rate, total spin ups, spin up retries and calibration retries attributes are implemented as during normal operation (“on-line”); whereas, Multi-zone Error Rate test is performed “off-line”. This test performs a read-verify-all operation and calculates an error rate. These Attributes are updated and stored on the drive in the reserved area of the disk. Also stored on the drive is a set of Attribute Thresholds that correspond to the calculated Attribute Values. An impending degrading or faulty condition is indicated when the calculated Attribute Value becomes less than or equal to its corresponding Attribute Threshold value.

The drive periodically saves all data associated with the S.M.A.R.T. feature. The data is written to the reserved area of the disk after certain time of inactivity by the host. The save of the data is performed in the background and will not cause a decrease in performance.

 

THX for the addtitonal FYI Mike and lets hope a new drive fixes the issue shedokan is having

 

Replacing the HD of your computer is a good optoin thats why youneed to backup all your files then buy a new a new HD then load the files to the new HD.
What label is your HD C:\ or D:\ and so on?