loud buzz/hum in laptop (solved)

The only moving parts in a laptop are the DVD drive, the fan(s), and the HDD.
So it has never made this noise before? Ever?

I've seen the internals of the laptop, so do this:
- Face the laptop towards you like normal.
- Turn on, log in, let it idle. Make sure it's making the noise.
- Close, and flip over (keeping the same side facing you).
- Listen to the corners. Tell me if it's the bottom right, the top right, or the top left (the bottom left houses the battery, so it shouldn't make noise).

Possible problems:
Bottom right: HDD is failing.
Top right: Fan is failing.
Top left: Disk in tray?

Means you had better back up everything as quick as you can

Laptop parts have so little clearance between them that it could still be the power supply/motherboard fan. HP laptops I've used have them close together, two Lenovo's I have place the HDD and the motherboard fan on opposite corners.

The kind of behavior you describe isn't usually the HDD, though it's not ruled out. As of right now, odds are still with the cooling fan, I'd say.

Both can be bad news if you're out of warranty. On my Lenovo's, that cooling fan is soldered to the motherboard.

I would bet on the fan first too. I don't think a hard drive usually goes on making odd noises (and functioning) very long.

It could still be the fan, but I've had HDDs that made similar noises and I've worked with bad ones for months without them failing.
Still, backup your important files.

Wanna get inside and tinker a little?

Make sure you have a small screwdriver. Larger than a eye-glass screwdriver, but smaller than the normal screwdriver. You don't want to "strip" screws, so loosen them firmly--get a handyman do this is you can.
Follow this guide:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9YIBuAWQqo
You don't have to remove the battery; the only thing you'll have to remove is the first (large) cover.
Then remove the HDD like they showed.
EVERYTHING (other than the screws) SHOULD COME OUT WITH NO PROBLEM. Don't force parts; that's how they break.
After that, flip it over and turn it on. It'll POST saying "no hard drive detected" or something, but not fully start up.
Does the sound persist? You've removed the HDD, so if it does, it's not that. (You can press the power button to turn it off)

You can replace the fan by itself--it's as easy as removing the HDD, but with a small connector attached. You can find parts off ebay--they'll run you $15 (which is an outrage! But whatever).

Or you can take it to a computer shop. Most that I know of aren't very good, but at least they know how to work on it. Research, research, research.

Intermittent lawn-mower sound is bad bearings, either in a fan or a hard disk. There's nothing else in a computer that can make such a racket.

Bad bearings in a fan can be from fatal to merely annoying. But usually the kind that sound like a lawn mower (ball bearings) don't just quit the way the kind that make owl sounds do (flat or sleeve bearings).

Bad bearings in a HD are cause to RUN, not walk, to the nearest backup device, and next to the nearest techie who can replace it (or warranty service as the case may be). It may continue for a while but bad bearings in a HD get hot, and WILL freeze it up sooner rather than later, with ZERO additional warning. One day it'll get real hot and quit on the spot.

If you are not experienced with laptops, do NOT attempt to open it. Laptops are a maze of tiny, fragile, interlocking and obscurely-secured parts. If you've never worked on one before, chances of killing it are close to 100%. If you want to do laptop repair, pick up a bunch of dead ones to practice on first. And I don't recommend it at all til you're fairly proficient at nasty namebrand desktop innards (not just clones, which are much easier to successfully deconstruct).

I've had a mix of fan and motherboard issues with my HPs which had incredibly loud noises even when cool, and it always ended with the motherboard dying on me (I've been told by people more experienced than me). Three times in about five years. Now I've had a Toshiba for a couple years and it's still running smooth. *knock on wood*

MaryMumsy said:

What kind of funny cigarettes have you been smoking?

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Bob! Bob! What the hell did you give me? *gets out of chair and beats Bob with a stuffed giraffe* Dammit Bob, what did I tell you last time about slipping me candy cigarettes. They don't burn well!


Well, at least you've got a "guy" for the job. It should be an easy fix for him.

Hope your problems clear up well. In the meantime, do back up your stuff--just in case.


Reziac, her laptop is really, really, really easy to work on; everything is just there after you open the first flap. Nothing like the utter maze of my own laptop that takes me hours to rip apart. I'd think most people who can deal with a small tool and simple instructions could do it with not problem--yet, that's if they have the courage to do it. Or to risk it. It's never bad to practice on dead/dying hardware either if someone is capable of it.

What sort of weirdassed laptop is designed so you can actually get it apart without being a contortionist?

I liked the design on some of the old ones, where every removable or user-serviceable component had a little door all its own, with a label and an obvious latch. No need to delve in the guts.

Something like this happened to my son's Dell laptop. Might be the same thing, might not.

It turned out that his constant pressure on the keyboard (mostly playing minecraft!) was pressing the top of the laptop onto either a fan or the hard drive.

Luckily it was within warranty and Dell repaired it free of charge. But one piece of advice that we were given was that laptops can be vulnerable to a lot of keyboard bashing. We were advised to use a separate USB or Bluetooth keyboard (which actually feels much better than the slightly rubbery keys on the laptop).

Other than that, I'd wholly agree with the advice to backup, backup, backup. There are only types of people in this world. Those who have had a hard drive failure and those who are about to.

As they have all said, Back. Up.

One thing I forgot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving was not having to depend on a laptop. They are all little beasts from Hell when something goes wrong.

Reziac said:

What sort of weirdassed laptop is designed so you can actually get it apart without being a contortionist?

I liked the design on some of the old ones, where every removable or user-serviceable component had a little door all its own, with a label and an obvious latch. No need to delve in the guts.

Click to expand...

MSI laptops aren't the highest quality, but I've not heard any quality complaints, either.

I believe they keep costs down by using off-the-shelf where they can.

I'd say off-the-shelf is a feature, not a drawback. MSI mainboards have generally been pretty reliable and not made cheap, so...