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Alienware M18 making strange noises
Hello, buddies!
First of all, thanks for your time and help.
So I have this M18 since 2013, when it was the latest model out there, and after 4 years, it started to make some strange noises last week.
This noise comes straight out of my hardware and it's mostly random (although it is more likely to occur when I'm turning it on).
Here is a recording of it: Vocaroo | Voice message
It is very annoying, strident and, unlike this audio shows, it is less "noisy" (.e.g., you hear the strident noise stronger, and the air sound of the background weaker).
Today, I have noticed that when I tried to turn it on, I heard a sound if something was stuck, but suddenly released (followed by the noise mentioned [but lower])
I'm not 100% sure if this is connected, but I recently started to have some blue screens, with the message irql_not_less_or_equal (but I believe it was an anti-virus problem, not sure).
It is worth highlighting that I barely use this Aliewanre; it has been mostly shut for the last 6 months and, when I do, I don't go hardcore gaming.
Yes, I'm an idiot that uses an Alienware to work and play GBA and PSX games.
Anyway, any ideas? Thanks for your aid!
Ps: I did that support assistant test, and according to it, all of my hardwares are perfect.
Carbon Based Lifeform
872 Posts
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July 25th, 2017 03:00
Hi Yarouge.
get Canned Air and blow the covfefe out of your Laptop. could be just Dust messing with internal Components. do you have Overheat Issues? if yes then re-paste the Thermal Paste. you have to open your Machine anyway.
it could be your Hard Disk as well. sometimes they make some strange Noises before they Die. you can download CrystalDisk Info and take a look at the Health Status or download HD Tune and run Sector by Sector Test.
Hot Zone
3 Posts
0
July 25th, 2017 07:00
In four years have you taken apart the fans and cleaned the fans and vents? Mine basically stopped air flowed going through two out of the four air vents and the fans were caked with dust...
Basically had to clean it out slowly with a toothbrush and vacuum hahah. Anyways probably needs new thermal compound like Yarouge said too... You can check your drive health if you are worried about anything but usually M18 are pretty well built machines with some routine maintenance.
That not any hard drive I've ever heard of... It seem like one of your fans or the bearings might of worn out since they do wear out overtime... Easy to take the back of the laptop apart and turn it on watch and listen to the fans closely see which one is making that noise... If you think it the drive then you can listen to that too while it operating but not going to know anything until you actually open her up and take a look inside the hood.
Yarouge
12 Posts
2
July 25th, 2017 08:00
To be honest, I never cleaned it or anything else... I'm afraid of opening this thing, it's too expensive to play with, hahaha
Are you guys suggesting opening it with a regular screwdriver? I know that, at some point, those won't be useful.
Thank you all for those tips, I'll surely take a look.
Ps: I don't think I have any sort of heating issues. I'm starting to believe it has to do with dust or something.
I'll let you guys know asap!
Carbon Based Lifeform
872 Posts
0
July 25th, 2017 09:00
last Time i bought a Laptop i opened it within the first Hour.
yes. open it with a simple Screw Driver. the Screws don't break that easy if you are using the correct Screw Driver Type and Size. besides, it's not like you have other Choices.
Carbon Based Lifeform
872 Posts
0
July 25th, 2017 09:00
haha... yeah, type "weird noise hard drive failing" in Youtube Search Bar and enjoy.
but i actually think it's one of the dusty Fans too.
Hot Zone
3 Posts
0
July 25th, 2017 09:00
Here a good walk through vid... It really simple actually not really even a tear down just a few screws and nothing to break either. The fans and vents are easy to access as shown in this vid. Alienware M18x R2 Disassembly CPU GPU Fan + Exterior Clean Dust Removal | Overheating Fix - YouTube
But the thing is you won't know anything until you take a closer look at what might be causing it. If it one of your fans that are going bad well that an easy fix too they are pretty cheap parts to replace but I'll give the fan and vent a good clean first and see if the issue persist or if that just solves it. But the fans will stress harder when they are blocked and clogged and might even stop spinning.
The next option is getting someone to do it for you which is a waste of $$ when simple stuff is serviceable by yourself
I gave my system a solid clean it improve temps by 20c... hahah much too long overdue for a clean just been really lazy actually and i thought i had to do a complete tear down to reapply thermal pasting to the gpu and cpu but now they are within acceptable range so saved me from removing a hundred tiny midget size clips that could break hahah
Yarouge
12 Posts
0
August 1st, 2017 11:00
The problem was indeed excessive dust!
One of the "escape" areas, under the fan, was almost totally blocked and, as soon as I cleaned, no more noises/blue screens ever came up.
The last time it happened was Thursday, so it's safe to say this is fixed.
But now I have a question regarding this:
Why is this upper darker than the rest? Not only darker, but denser... I have a feeling that dust only got stuck there because of this darker part.