Insufficient power supply?

Question

Hi, I bought a Dell inspiron 531s desktop last month with a few options (2Gb memory, 128M video card, 1394 card, wireless network card, AMD 4000+, etc. the power supply is 250W) But recently I can hear a strange 'click-click' sound from the computer constantly, and it sounds like the hard drive is resetting the magnetic head(the sound we can usually hear when the computer is shutting down). I searched on the websites and it's very likely that I am having insufficient power supply.   My question is, did anyone have similar problem before? How did you solve it? I don't know if I should ask Dell to upgrade the power supply, or just buy another PSU and upgrade by myself..   Thanks!   cyq

PETER345 · Answer

Clicking from the HD is more likely a sign that the HD is failing rather than insufficient PSU. If the PSU were overloaded, I would expect the machine to crash or shutdown.

My 9200 with 2HD, 2 optical drives, 4G RAM, quad core running at 2.8G fully loaded only draws 165W.

Peter

cyqthu · Answer

Thanks Peter But this is a new computer, and it has been working for only one month, in perfect condition.. I don't know what can make the hard drive damaged so quickly.. Is the hard drive included in Dell's warranty?   cyq

cyqthu · Answer

Thanks Ron, for your step by step instruction :) I feel lucky that I haven't had a chance to transfer my tons of files into this computer..

RoHe · Answer

Yup, the hard drive is covered by the warranty, and 'things' can happen. Back up your personal files onto CD or other external media ASAP. ;)

Reboot and press F12 before Windows starts to load. Go to Utilities partition and run extended HD tests. Copy any error message and contact Dell Tech Support for possible drive replacement.

Ron

Pris · Answer

I'd just like to add a comment here. About 2 weeks before my hard drive failed Dell ran the hard drive check & it passed.   I've had 4 computers & this is the 1st time I ever had a hard drive fail. Both of my older computers are still running!   I'd been having problems with it from day one... but lately I'd been running out of memory to the point the system would freeze up after about 15 minutes of use & was about to go buy a different brand of pc as I couldn't get anyone who knew how to 'fix' the problems. The graphics card & fans were replaced twice...I'd been getting double imaging, shadows under text, & could type faster than the computer could put the letters on the screen (I'm NO typist!).   I no longer have faith in those tests.

PETER345 · Answer

Just to add to what Ron said, a diagnostic check can determine that something has a problem, but not that it does not have a problem. Passing the test only indicates that no failures were found, not that none exist. That is why running multiple diagnostics is a good idea when you suspect a problem.

I've got HDs that have been bad from day one. Some fail down the road and others seem to go on forever. If yours failed quickly, you were unlucky.

Peter

RoHe · Answer

Obviously, no diagnostic test is fool-proof and it won't detect intermittent problems. So yes, the HD might pass the test today and fail the next time.

Couple of things to consider too. According to the Inspiron 531s user manual:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/insp531s/en/OM/YN9032D.pdf

The setting for HDD SMART capability is disabled in BIOS by default. This setting determines whether integrated drive errors are reported or not during system startup. So you might want to run BIOS setup and turn that on to see if it starts reporting HD errors at boot up. Of course, this assumes your HD has SMART capabilities.

Also, poke around in BIOS to see if there's a setting for HD 'efficiency' (or something similar). Not sure from the user manual if yours has this option. On some Dell models, changes to this setting make the HD run faster -but noiser- or a tad slower and optimized for quiet performance. If I change this on my Dimension 8400 to the faster setting, the HD makes annoying clicks all the time. Setting it back to 'optimal' makes it run quietly.

But if you get error messages from the HD tests in the Utilities partition, your drive is on its way to the landfill. And if Dell does decide to replace the drive, convince them to send you a fully imaged drive with Windows, drivers, software etc pre-installed so you don't have to spend hours formatting and installing everything yourself.

Ron

Message Edited by RoHe on 11-21-2007 08:22 PM

cyqthu · Answer

well, I think I should really have followed your advice asap, because now the harddisk is not dying, but dead. The whole screen froze with no response at all, and after restarting, it said 'no boot device found'. I have to wait for a couple of hours before I can get into the system again, but it will freeze again in half an hour.. Is this definitely a hard drive failure? I cannot even get into the utility partition to run the check... Nice gift for thanksgiving :)   Happy holiday, folks   cyq

PETER345 · Answer

You should take whatever opportunities you have to get any data you need off the disk. It may be completely dead soon. HDs are easily replaced, but the data often is not. Peter

RoHe · Answer

If necessary, you can create a bootable CD on another PC which has Dell's hard drive tests on it. Boot from the CD and run it on this system. Instructions here:
http://snipurl.com/1u29q

Since it's so new, you might want to power off and open the case. Double check that cables (data and power) to the hard drive are correctly connected about both ends. Some times things get loose during shipping and simply removing and reconnecting a cable can fix the problem. Go to the user manual link in my earlier post and look for instructions about adding/replacing the hard drive for details about the HD cable connections.

Ron

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Insufficient power supply?

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