I installed a program, EasyBurner, and it asked me to restart (not sure if it's relevant, but I'm LETTING you know anyways). I did, and instead of making the clicking noise of the cd drive and the other minor noises of a startup, they were repeating about 7-10 times. I've tried a few startups and each is LIKE this. The worst part is that I have nothing to see on my monitor. I know my video card and monitor are fine, so that's not even an option. I can't even see the boot screen or driver load screen, so I know something is wrong beyond video feed. I waited for the time it would take to get to the Log in screen, then I typed my password and hit enter, and I heard the log on sound, so I know it's working that much. It made a little error sound, maybe something popped up, but again, my monitor indicates no activity. The little sound it makes (possibly the hard drive starting up or something like that) which has always been present and is normal now makes the sound about 7-10 times and the LED HDD indicator blinks each time, which I guess would mean the hard drive keeps restarting. The noises and light indication happen about every 1-2 seconds and then it loads normally (sounding at least, I still have no control as I cannot see). This is why I'm doubting it's a video issue.. that and my monitor is only 2 months old. Perhaps this HELPS- I had plugged in a camcorder using USB and it automatically installed its drivers and then notified me it is working and ready for use. Maybe that has something to do with it?
Any ideas? Please help, I really need this fixed for a project I'm working on. Any more questions, just ask.
XP SP3That clicking noise may be your hard drive failing...
Remove a side panel to determine where exactly the clik is coming from.
If it's the drive stop using it immediately if you want to save any data...well, i unplugged both connections to the SATA drive and then tried again. The hard drive was making normal sounds and it seems to be working, but I still cannot see. THe PROBLEM might actually be that my monitor isn't working, which is disappointing because it is only 2 months old, and I cannot find the warranty info, only the receipt. I'm going to connect it to my laptop and see if it works.