I'm running a windows nt 4 file server, and noticed recently that
there is a constant tapping noise - sounds like the hard drive is
constantly being accessed, even though I know no one is on it and it
should not be running any application.

I ran fixblast (which turned up nothing) and it is patched up, but it
still makes the noise.  Not sure if it might be hardware or something
running in the background that shouldn't be.

Would appreciate any direction.

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Request for Question Clarification by joseleon-ga on 16 Aug 2003 12:48 PDT

Hello, skip9801:

 Check if there is a fan attached to that drive (if it's a 7200 rpm
drive, it most likely be there), maybe the noise is from the fan, not
from the hard disk. Open the case if necessary, maybe the fan is
attached to the bottom of the hard disk and it's not visible from
outside the case.

If there is no fan, check out the activity led, if it's off, don't
worry, there is no application accessing the disk and the noise you
hear is the normal activity of the disk, you can setup the low energy
options to turn off the drive after N minutes.

In the last case, a *heavy* noise could mean the hard disk is going to
crash.

Please, tell me if this information is useful to you.

Regards.

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Clarification of Question by skip9801-ga on 18 Aug 2003 04:50 PDT

Thanks for the ideas on what to look for.

Turns out it was the hard drive but, fortunately, it was a server with
two hard drives configured for disk mirroring.  I removed the failing
hard drive and am working on a replacement.