Why does the computer make a noise everytime i open "My computer"?

Always include the PC model and version of Windows in your posts!

Is it only when you click on My Computer? What happens if you click on some other icons?

Exactly kind of noise is it making? A beep? A screetch? Grinding sound? And by "real computer" do you mean from inside the PC case?

Suggest you back up your personal files on an external hard drive, CDs, DVDs, etc just to be safe in case the hard drive is failing.

Ron

oh im sorry.. its a dell 8400 with windows xp.

yes its only when i click my computer.

the sound is more like a screetch and yes the sound is coming inside the computer.

Sounds like the Hard drive has crashed heads.

But it works... i can access the hard drive (C:).. everything works ..

can it be that i have used for than half of my disc space? as i said i have 9,76GB of 127GB left.

It's unlikely that this type of noise is due to low disk space.

Your harddrive may not be dead yet, but with the current sound, like SpeedStep said, it's time to make sure you have backups of your data (on something other than that suspect drive, like a USB drive) as your harddrive may fail soon.

will it help if i reformat my computer?

If it's the hard drive, it's curious it only makes noise when you click My Computer. To be safe, back up your files on an external hard drive or CDs/DVDs asap.

You might also check out the fans. When I click My Computer on my 8400, the video card fan typically spins up. Reboot and press F12 before Windows starts to load. Go to the Utilities partition and launch the Dell Diagnostics. Run the fan tests. Does it make noise during the fan tests? Note this only tests the CPU fan, not the video card fan (if you have one.)

Then run the extended hard drive tests from the Diagnostics to see if you hear the noise. That should help you pin it down.

Ron 

alright RoHe i did the Hard drive diagnostics... the first hard drive made a screetchy sound for like 5-6 seconds, and the other hard drive did not. What do i do now? can't i fix it somehow?

Edit: When it was done it showed that is passed the diagnostics.

Probably a bearing in the drive is failing. Only fix is to replace it, and back up your files before it freezes and you lose everything.

If this Is a RAID setup, you'll have to buy a matching drive.

Ron

how do i know if its a RAID setup?

And how can i see the name of the hard drive?

Were both drives factory installed? If it's a RAID0 setup, you're going to lose everything on both drives. If it's RAID1, the second drive is a mirror image of everything on the primary hard drive.

If you reboot and press Ctrl-i before Windows starts to load does the RAID manager open?

You don't need to know the name of the hard drive. If it's not a RAID setup, you can install any hard drive your system's BIOS can handle. If it 's a RAID setup, the new hard drive has to be the same capacity as the original drive. So if the old one is 160 GB, you'd need to install another 160 GB drive (any brand you want) for a RAID setup.

Ron

Hey i just reformatted the computer and the noise is gone! =D

I dont have to be worried anymore

Keep an eye on that drive, and back up your files regularly, just to be safe!

Ron

I will. Thanks for you help!! =D