My Seagate 2TB hard drive began clicking repeatedly while I was using a virtual machine, and the virtual machine soon crashed with a blue screen. The clicking continued when I opened applications such as Krita and while running CHKDSK, although CHKDSK completed without reporting a problem. After restarting the computer, the drive seems quiet during normal browsing, but I'm unsure whether I should launch a game or otherwise keep using it. Could the virtual machine's disk activity or page file be causing this, or does the clicking suggest that the drive is failing? What should I check first?
4 Answers
A virtual machine can create heavy disk activity, especially if its virtual disk and page file are stored on the same physical drive as the host system. Check Task Manager’s disk usage while the noise occurs and see whether the VM software is responsible. However, the clicking continuing after the VM shuts down makes a mechanical problem more concerning than ordinary drive thrashing.
Treat the clicking as a possible sign of imminent drive failure. Back up anything important immediately, ideally to another physical drive, and avoid putting unnecessary stress on this disk until your data is safe. A drive can appear normal after a restart and still be deteriorating.
Check the drive’s SMART health information with a reputable disk-monitoring tool. That can reveal reallocated sectors, pending sectors, read errors, or other warning signs. I would avoid running repair operations before securing a backup, since repeated reads and writes can add stress to a failing drive.
Plan to replace the drive rather than assuming the issue is fixed. If the data is important, copy it while the drive is still accessible and keep the replacement ready. The earlier blue screen and clicking together are enough reason not to trust the disk for games, virtual machines, or important files.
That makes sense. I mostly use the VM for occasional 3D work, but the drive also clicked briefly with normal programs and even from the command prompt after the VM was powered off. It has been quiet since the restart, though.