LOUD clicking noise from laptop

Hi ff0273ac72ca710c,

Please refer to the image below to find the location of the 'hard drive' and the 'system fan' in 'Studio 1555'. Both components are located on the left side. It is very likely that the 'clicking sound' may be originating from 'system fan' instead of the 'hard drive'.

The 'system fan' may produce noise due to accumulation of dust; or due to malfunction due to normal 'wear & tear'. Since the system is not covered under the warranty, you may want to use a can of compressed air to blow the dust out of the vents.

1. Please ensure that the vents of the system are clean and allow free circulation of air inside the system. You may use a can of compressed air to clean the vents. Before you clean the air vents of system:

• Turn off the System
• Unplug the AC Adapter
• Unplug all external peripherals
• Remove the Battery
• Check the vents on the computer to see if they are covered with dust and not allowing heat and air to pass through.
• Use Compressed Air to blow the dust out of the vents
  Note: Do not use your mouth to blow the Dust out of a Laptop. If using a can of compressed air use the can according to the directions on the side of the can as you can cause damage to the computer if used incorrectly

2. Try 'flashing BIOS' to see if that helps:

Note: Before flashing the BIOS please check the following:-
- Battery should have 10% or greater charge
- Adapter should be connected
- No external devices should be connected
- All other programs should be closed and documents saved

Click http://dell.to/ZIHbA3 to access the 'Drivers and Downloads' section > enter 'Service Tag' > Filter Search Results based on 'Operating System installed > Download and install the latest 'BIOS' > Follow the onscreen instructions to finish > Allow the system to restart and check results.

Hope this helps. Do reply with the findings.

To know more about Dell’s products, services and drivers & downloads, please go to http://dell.to/YBlak6

Hi Saurabh,

Thankyou for your answer. I want to try your idea about cleaning the fan for dust, but I cannot take the laptop apart because the screw holding the WLAN mini card down won't budge at all. It's like it has been glued down. I have tried so hard removing it I have accidentally stripped the head.

What can I do now? How can I remove the screw? Can I leave the screw in and still open the laptop?

Thanks,

ff0273ac72ca710c

Hi ff0273ac72ca710c,

Thank you for the reply.

I checked the 'screw' that secures that 'WLAN card'; should be able to open it with an appropriately sized 'screw driver'. However, you may not need to open the 'WLAN card' in order to reach the system fan.

Please click the following link to refer the 'service manual' for 'Studio 1555'; gives step-by-step instructions to remove and install all internal components: http://bit.ly/UzISBD.

To reach the system fan, the following components need to be removed first:
- Remove the battery
- Remove the base cover
- Remove the center control cover
- Remove the Keyboard
- Remove the display assembly
- Remove the palm rest
- Remove the optical drive

Hope this helps. Do reply if you have any further questions.

To know more about Dell’s products, services and drivers & downloads, please go to http://dell.to/YBlak6

Hello everyone,

I would like to share my experience regarding the knocking sound from my laptop some days before.My laptop specifications - Dell Inspiron i5,windows 7,64 bit (2011 model)

Problem Description -  was getting an echo while playing any audio file that ended up with everlasting knocking sound while booting up the system altogether the next day.

Solution- first of all,the moment i heard the knocking sound i turned off my laptop,well this was not the solution for sure anyways, on checking i realized that it wasn't from the fan or any other hardware.Then i started my system in safe mode by clicking F12 during the boot time, i then restored my laptop to the date till which it worked properly.

Hence my laptop got restored to a particular date with all new software that i installed after that particular date being deleted and finally the laptop restarted in normal mode with no more knocking and echo sound.

I hope my solution appears useful to anyone having the same issue with their laptop.
Thank You!!

Priyanshi 

Thanks Priyanshi 

It works . 

Thanks Again 

Vartul.

Hello Priyanshi....

i would like to know...what exactly was your problem

i think mine is also same......

i have Dell 5521 i7........in which when i turn on my laptop .....it continuously keeps on making clicking sound untill i keep pressing the power button to turn it off.

and to turn it on i have to do this for 10-15 times....untill my luck favours me to turn it ON..:P

Hello Dhruvil,

Thanks for showing interest in my solution!!
 

My laptop was making knocking sound after i was completely logged into it, that is, after the window screen had been appeared,so fortunately i got enough time to get my system booted up in the safe mode.

Are you getting the knocking sound right after turning your laptop on,i mean just after pressing the power button to turn it on?

Also please make sure that it's not the fan or any other hardware problem that is producing that sound.

Thank You!!

ya....exactly......when i just press power button....its starts clicking and with nothing on screen.......then i shutdown down it by pressing power till its off........and i have to keep on doing this.....untilll luckily my laptop shows somw light on screen....
i dont know what is going on with it.......and this sound comes from bottom left corner....

then in that case i think it's a hardware problem,it's not any software that is creating trouble.You should get your laptop's fan checked,that could be the one producing sound.

Okay, hello. I don't know how the site works yet so I am wondering if you can help. My laptop is dell inspiron 1545. It's a nice laptop and works well for around 9 years I think. Everything was absolutely perfect until something weird happened. When I launched it, it started acting weird. I was working abnormally (unusually) fast. After such speed it started to go slow and slow and slow until it reached the point  where every single program was freezing including windows explorer. I turned all services off and everything but it made no difference. I cheched for viruses, fixed registry and opened my laptop fully, I checked nothing was wrong. In safe modes the lag was reduced by a lot.

Okay, hello. I don't know how the site works yet so I am wondering if you can help. My laptop is dell inspiron 1545. It's a nice laptop and works well for around 9 years I think. Everything was absolutely perfect until something weird happened. When I launched it, it started acting weird. It was working abnormally (unusually) fast. After such speed it started to go slow and slow and slow until it reached the point  where every single program was freezing including windows explorer. I turned all services off and everything but it made no difference. I cheched for viruses, fixed registry and opened my laptop fully, I checked nothing was wrong. In safe modes the lag was reduced by a lot.