Hard Drive Reves Up

Greetings! :wave

I have a 2-yr-old Dell Dimension 3000, Pentium 4 - 2.80 MHz, 1.00 GB RAM, XP Service Pack 2. It runs well as I keep it updated, clean from spyware and viruses, do regular Defrag and run CCleaner scans.

Lately, I've noticed that the hard drive seems to "rev up" and then slow down after a few minutes. There are no lights blinking on the front to signify activity. The blower at the bottom back of the drive just seems to blow warm air like it's excelerating for some reason. The PC runs fine while this goes on as I'm usually online but it happens when I'm not online.

I have to admit it is very scary when this occurs and I don't know if it is normal. Also, I'm usually listening to music or talk radio when I'm on the PC and have only noticed it when everything is quiet. I have just now begun to notice the "reving up" over the past 3 months or so.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

Hi YellaRose and Welcome to MajorGeeks,
It sounds like you have a dust problem rather than anything wrong with your hard drive.
Hard drives start generally making clicking type noises when they start failing.
The revving up noise is probably a fan that cools the CPU or another component inside.
If you've had your computer for two years there will be dust accumulations inside especially on the fans and heatsink for the processor and other components.
Here are two links to get you going on some spring cleaning.
Pay attention to the warnings about static electricity. Touch a metal part of the case as soon as the cover comes off.

1st link - Open your case
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim3000/en/SM/cvrop.htm#wp1076111
2nd link - cleaning tutorial
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial118.html
HTH