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I have bought a brand new hard drive (HGST HTS721010A9E630) for my laptop and it's making a buzzing sound if the laptop is tilted. The more aggressive the tilting speed, the louder the sound. When the laptop is static, the drive sounds normal. The buzzing itself is like sound a small hair trimmer makes.

I've run WD data lifeguard diagnostic and it passed all the tests. SMART values are as expected for a new drive. Besides buzzing, the drive functions properly otherwise, no issues writing/reading the data and speeds are great.

I have another hard drive installed in the laptop (also 7200 RPM HGST, but different model) and it never made any sounds like this. I have also never encountered a drive that would behave like this before, neither desktop, nor laptop one.

The question is: is it actually ok for a drive to buzz when it's tilted (as a result of the gyroscopic effect maybe?) or is it a sign of a defective drive and I should I replace it? In either case, what exactly makes it buzz?

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  • Buzzing? In general, all laptop HDD's are effectively silent or near silent, and the sound should vary by orientation, a buzzing sound would NOT be normal. Are you sure it is the hard drive and not the laptop's CPU cooling fan?
    – acejavelin
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 1:58
  • @acejavelin yes, I'm sure it's the hard drive. Thankfully, I'm not the type of user who can't tell a difference.
    – lightproof
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 8:37
  • You really shouldn't be aggresively moving a hard drive while it's in use...
    – qasdfdsaq
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 9:27
  • @qasdfdsaq That's the point, I'm not moving it aggressively, I just gently tilt the laptop 90° and the drive makes a buzz. I have not encountered a drive that would behave like this and I have used a couple of dozens of them in the last 20 years or so.
    – lightproof
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 10:13
  • I'm wondering if it's a spinning gyro detecting the tilt, and obviously it's not quite fitted right...
    – djsmiley2kStaysInside
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 14:12

1 Answer 1

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NewEgg reviews shows that other users have had the same problem and that HGST support said to get it replaced.

https://www.newegg.com/global/sg/Product/SingleProductReview.aspx?ReviewID=4331255

05/20/2015

This review is from: HGST Travelstar 7K1000 HTS721010A9E630 (0J22423) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 2.5" Internal Notebook Hard Drive (Standard model) Bare Drive

Pros:

None

Cons:

Purchased it and after installation, though it was very quiet when flat, but every time I tilted the laptop it sounded like someone getting a buzzcut. Loud and not healthy. HGST tech support said to have Newegg exchange it.

2nd one, the replacement, didn't have the buzzing noise when tilted, But, it ran very loud like an old tower.

Returned it for store credit and will be trying to get a Seagate. Newegg customer service was very good, but this item was very bad.

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  • Well, in my case the buzz is not loud, otherwise I would return it right away. It's been 2 weeks now and there are no errors or reallocated/pending sectors (I purposely read/write to it a lot) or other issues. I also monitor SMART all the time and the only thing that is bothering me is that Power Off Retract Count value is already pretty high (000001690005) and it increases every time I tilt the laptop. I suppose I see how it does for now but will still probably try returning it after a couple of weeks (it's not as easy as in US/Europe). Anyway, thanks for the info!
    – lightproof
    Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 0:03

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