Dissonant Drive Sounds


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Tutorial Home >Hardware >Storage and Drives >Floppy Drives >Troubleshoot Floppy Drives >Dissonant Drive Sounds

  Step 1:  Take Out the Floppy Disk

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Press the eject button to remove it. See if the sound stops when there is no disk in place.
  Step 2:  Insert a Fresh Diskette

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Next, insert a fresh, clean floppy disk in the drive. Listen to determine if the sound has stopped or reduced.
  Step 3:  Shutdown PC

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If the problem continues, or worsens, shutdown the PC (choosing Shutdown from Windows Start), turn it off and disconnect the power. Remove the cover. Ground yourself before placing your hands inside the PC.
  Step 4:  Check the Floppy Drive

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Check to be sure the cable from the PC to the floppy drive and the power supply to the floppy drive are firmly secured and properly oriented. Check the drive mounting to make certain the drive is not sitting at any type of angle. If it is, remove it from its mount by removing the screws, adjust its seating, and then replace the screws.
  Step 5:  Replace, Retry

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Replace the cover on the PC, restore power connections, and turn the PC on. If the floppy drive makes no noise, it may be fixed. But once Windows loads, insert a floppy disk in the drive and access it using Windows Explorer or other program. If the sound reappears, go to the next step.
  Step 6:  Clean the Drive

Check the early troubleshooting tutorial on dealing with a dirty floppy drive to clean the drive. Reassess the sound once the cleaning has been done. If a problem still exists, replace the drive.