Download Hard Disk Sentinel (see http://www.hdsentinel.com/compat.php) and
give it a try. It save me by proving my HD was bad. I ran all kinds of test
on the HD and nothing indicated I had a problem. I had also contacted the
MFG of my laptop several times and each time they indicated that my problem
was software not hardware. I ran HDS and noticed that on the average the HD
was reallocation sectors on the average 15 times a day. Also possibly using
SpinRite (see www.spinrite.com) might help. I started to run SpinRite on the
drive but due to other pressures I had to stop the process when it was only
40% completed. After HDS indicated the HD had problems I replaced the drive,
restored the HD to factory shipment and the system has been runing without
any HD issues. I use both HDS and SpinRite on a regular basis and highly
suggest either or both.

Thanks jgt. I have installed hard drive sentinel (neat app!), it says
the disk is fine.

I have also installed Ubuntu (Linux) on a partition as a test, under
Ubuntu the computer is perfectly silent.

So it is indeed a Vista "feature" that has my HD spinning 24/7 and
writing with a constant, distracting humming noise, even when I'm just
reading online. My new high-end Sony is noisier than my 4-years-old
low-end Toshiba under XP. Unbelievable.

I guess I'm going to install XP soon.


--
nimic1234
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