What is causing the noise? Please help!

kisshell2

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Apr 21, 2009
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I have a Msi EX 630 which is 2 months old. The warranty is void.
At first, when i used to lift or move the laptop while it was working it started to make really irritating noise. But now, as soon as the laptop starts it makes noises. Im really confused whether the hardisk or the fan is causing the noise. How can i know about the cause.
Also, if the harddisk is causing it then can defrag and scandisk correct it?
Please help !
 
Solution
A very easy way to determine is to just unplug your HD and switch your lappy on. If there is no noise, then voila it is the HD. Stopping a fan while it is running, although it works, it is not recommended as it could damage the motherboard.

dextermat

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"Msi EX 630 which is 2 months old.": why is it not under warranty anymore ? Usually is 1 year on thoses.

If you tempered with it tell me what you've done.

Is it a vibrating noise, humming noise or a high pitch sound you hearing ?

Could be the fan / HD or cd-rom usually....

you could open up the cd rom and boot with computer to see.

If the sound comes from hard drive: you can't really fix that with defrag or scandisk. Those are just to fix data problems mostly.

Good luck
 
W/o actually hearing the noise, id have to guess HD or fan.....fan is usually easy caise you can see it. I use a little plastic tie thing or bread bag twistie thing to stop th efan for a sec. If noise stops it's the fan. If it's the HD, it's about to die a painful death....get your data off ASAP.
 

darkguset

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A very easy way to determine is to just unplug your HD and switch your lappy on. If there is no noise, then voila it is the HD. Stopping a fan while it is running, although it works, it is not recommended as it could damage the motherboard.
 
Solution

kisshell2

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Actually, the laptop was open box so no warranty. I had the 1 month refund. I'm sure its not the dvd drive.
So is it safe to open the laptop by myself? I am a complete noob when t comes to laptop.
I mean its a laptop not a desktop. Also could the graphics card be making the sound.
The thing is that the noise starts as soon as i start the laptop. The noise is kind of humming noise and there is a little vibration i guess. So can you make something out of it.


Really appreciate all of your help. Thank you.
 

kisshell2

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How to unplug the HD?
I am noob at laptop. Is it like as in desktop?
I have not open a laptop before.
 

darkguset

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Usually it is a very simple procedure. If you turn your laptop upside down you will see 2x covered slots (2 pieces of plastic that comes off, usually secured by a screw or two).

First thing you need to do is disconnect your battery and remove it from the laptop while you are working with it.

One of the slots is usually for the HDD and the other for the RAM. They are usually very simple in case you want to upgrade. So find which slot is for your HDD and carefully study how it is connected to the laptop and disconnect it. If you are unsure of what you are doing, you should be able to find simple instructions either on your manufacturer's website or even Google.

Obviously after you disconnect your HD, reconnect the battery to test for the noise. If the noise is gone, then it was probably your HD. In that case, put it back on, buy a replacement, image the old HD to the new and install your new.
 

kisshell2

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So i found the cause.
At the upper right side there is a fan of some sort. I am sure it's not the hd or is it?
But when i took a paper and jamed i the noise stop. So it must be the fan. So do you know by ar something chance how to repair it. Do i need a new fan. I heard that there is a spray or something. I have a external cooler too.
And thanks for te help!! :)
 

darkguset

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If it is indeed the fan i would do the following:

Try to check visually if something has dropped in there or touching the blades, or a screw is loose or something that makes the thing vibrate. If you find something and can clear it or a screw loose then go ahead and tighten it up.

If you can't see anything, DO NOT use a lubricating spray (WD40 or similar) as they usually do nothing to help a magnetic fan. Unless the fan has some bearings and they are rusted, which is probably 99% NOT the case. That is why i would avoid it.
You can try though to use some compressed air spray on to remove any trapped dust or foreign body. KEEP IN MIND: When using the air spray, use something like a pin or pen to immobilise the fan blades!!! If they spin too fast they could damage your motherboard irreversibly! You have been warned.

If nothing works, i would take it to a qualified technician to have it repaired, as laptops are very fidly things and even if you know what you are doing, the chances that you destroy something accidentaly are pretty high, not to mention the time that you will spend and the stress you will be getting while trying the operation.

Finally as mentioned before, do all this with the battery disconnected to avoid shorting anything.

Good luck!
 

danmax

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One thing about the EX630 is, they fell under the 3 year warranty. Both of my EX630 notebooks have had heatsink fan problems. It's the Fan that starts out with a slight buzz sound. If you stand your notebook on it's side [screen open & system on], it would be standing on the left side [if you are looking at it from the front]. The noise should stop. That's how I checked mine. It can take anywhere from 3-12 months before the fan goes completely bad. My first one was actually hitting the fan casing, unless I stood it on end like I mentioned earlier. It's the bearings that go out.

On this model, you only need to take out 5 screws from the bottom to gain access to the entire heatsink/heatsink fan assembly. Then you have 7 screws to remove in order to take off the heatsink/fan assembly. The two sets of screws are marked- 1,2,3 & 1,2,3,4. That is the order that you need to follow when you remove & put your new/replacement assembly back on your system board. It takes about 15 minutes to remove & replace. Add a few minutes if you need to do some cleaning. The new one was improved a bit from the original one. Remember to clean off the heatsink paste off on the CPU & North-bridge & re apply paste prior to installing the replacement. I believe that the problem is a defective OEM part to begin with. I say that because the replacement is made a lot better than the original one.

One thing to think about is this. If you purchased your MSI EX630 with the Turion 2GHz/1MB/800MHz Processor, it might be a good time to upgrade the processor. I did, I went from the OEM 2GHz to the Turion II Ultra 2.3GHz/2MB L2cache/800/1800MHz HT Processor for $65.00. Gaining the extra 300MHz plus another 1MB of L2cache on the upgrade really helped. I think the temp stayed the same. I use a Infrared Thermometer gun to check the temp, it's better than a gadget on the desktop or a program & I just turn it on, check out the temp & I'm ready to use it on any other repairs I do. In fact, when I do work for people, I usually add the test result to the bill so they can see that I've went over & above what they needed fixed. Most people like the fact that I did check out the temp of their Processor for free & have the temps from different times-[idle, under load.]