Death Inc

My computer makes a clicking noise every 5 seconds or so. I pulled the cover off it on teh weekend and used compressed air on everything. There was a little dust but not much. Clicking remains.
It is fracking annoying.

Are you sure its not your speakers? Tried unplugging them and turning them off?

We had a web page with dynamic content that would auto refresh every few seconds and that would make a click sound in XP

Most things that make noise in a PC are spinning components like a hard drive or fan and they spin many times a second so I don't think you'd get a clicking noise every 5 seconds from those. Sometimes transformers and coils on the motherboard or an expansion card can make a whining sound but again, I wouldn't expect a click every 5 seconds.

Some old video cards had a solenoid in them that clicked when switching modes/inputs but I doubt you'd have one of these in your pc

It isn't my speakers.

Ok, I'll pop the bonnet and stick my head in there and see if I can figure out which component is producing the noise.

I really thought it would be something stuck in one of the fans, but you make good points. A piece of paper in the fans would be more of a burring noise. Solenoid sounds good, I suspect my power supply, though the mother board is fairly old.

Ill tell you exactly (99% sure) what it is, as I had the same thing happen to me.

It is one of your fans. What happens is in the factory they put a tiny amount of crappy lube on the ball bearings that wears away over time, and then your fan starts to click. First its a little, then its a lot. To fix:

Identify the fan. When you hear the noise, put pressure on the centre part of the fan with your finger to slow it down. See if the noise happens less frequently. Do this for each fan. Don't touch the fan blades or they may break (Known as "Pulling a RoBB").

Once you dientify the fan, take it out of the case and peel the round sticker off of one side. Underneath will be a plastic or rubber stopper. Take out the stopper with a fingernal or small screwdriver, then put a few drops of sewing machine oil in the hole. (Dont use WD-40 or olive oil. Use sewing machine oil, its great.) Let it sit for 5 mintes.

Put the rubber stopper back in place. You may need to secure it with a little bit of tape. Reinstall the fan.

???

Profit!

or buy a new fan......  just saying

i would really find out what the noise is first. try unplugging some of the fans in the case and see if it is one of them

i have had stuff like this before and most of the time it is the fan but sometimes it can be other things like donut said.

you never know i might be a good excuse to get a new pc of bohicia..... :P

can you record a video of yourself making the clicking noise with your mouth in slow motion?

semi nude on a pony would help I think.

If this is what your computer looks like don't be alarmed its perfectly normal
(http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a06/jr/7a/make-laptop-sound-like-typewriter-800x800.jpg)

ps i really think it would be better if you asked chalice.

Use your phone to record/upload a sound clip or video of the pc, case off, with clicking noise present. You can upload short vids/files to the Facebook group; quality might be a bit crap but may be enough for someone to identify if you still can't find/fix.

Once you update your credit card details on my website you can start making requests again.

Jazzy, stop grooming me.

Drat! *^_^*

Bwwwhahahahahaha love your work! +1

this is really what we need.....

i suspect it could be  a Hard disk if you have a spinner....

Does this work with brushless fans also????

It does, I've done it before to fans that had noticable bearing noise.
Although I like to remove the circlip that holds the fan's axle in the bearing and oil it that way. Of course if you lose the circlip the fan is useless so be careful where you put it....

I'm dubious that a fan would cause bageled's problem as its described here, I wouldn't think a fan would cause a noise every 5 seconds, usually they make a constant noise (even if it goes away once the fan spins up)

I love it when you talk dirty

Unlikely to be the power supply there are no relays in them and it would probably cause it to turn off.
I would think a fan would make a more regular sound as donut suggests, specially a sleeve bearing one as described, a ball bearing one maybe but also more regular. Fans are cheap replace it if it is the cause before it shorts or goes open circuit - if it runs dry = wear = fan rubbing on windings
Hard disk is a possibility check all your drives are responding - copy some large files and see if noise continues while drive is active, I have heard drives that fail to work make a clicking noise but they are really old i.e. 40mb (there is real old tech at my work)
Check CD and floppy they also have parts that have motion that may cause a click if they are failing
Unplug little PC speaker i.e. the one that makes the beep on boot not the stereo ones

Bageled i  have your fix for your problem you need Chalmella Lube all over your puter that should fix it  ;D

Fixes everything!

Do people still have floppy drives and internal speakers anymore?

My thought was that as it spins on its axle it falls ever so slightly, nicking a dry bit and skipping back up to the top of the axle again.

Id suggest one of these methods to further investigate.
(http://files.myopera.com/farisse/albums/220615/Komputasutra_Funny_Sex_Humor.computer,fun,geek,kamasutra,concept,funny-e8e4ab7661d984c5766ce530f4c698db_h.jpg)

Everything can be solved by catapult.

(Is it still clicking?)

Well I have computer blood up to my elbows, and the culprit in my hand. It was/is one of the hard drives. Thats bad right?

Depends, without a recording its hard to tell. Is the disk still working?
Could just be normal head seek noise... maybe the windows search indexer or something similar is running and thrashing your disk.

What brand is the disk? You can usually download a utility from the manufacturer's website that will run diags and displauy the SMART data and give you a good idea if its about to kick the bucket

Also computers don't work on blood. they work on electrons. FYI

It kind whirs then clicks, then whirs then clicks. Now that I can hear it better it reminds me of the sounds I used to heard from floppy disk drives.
As far as I can tell it is still working, no drives have suddenly stopped responding.
Western Digital is the brand

Also, since I have unpluged everything from it and am running on my bench top with only a power cable, what is the best way to power down?

WD have Data Lifeguard software, you could try running diags with that
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?level1=6&lang=en

I assume you unplugged the power button from the front of the case? The proper way would be to short the two power on pins on the motherboard with a screw driver. May have to hold it for 5 seconds or so to power off. CAreful you don't stick it where its not meant to go.
Alternatively just yank the power cord

as the person who correctly predicted Hard disk, i am wondering what my prize is and where i can collect it from?

You can collect your prize from my website. It's listed in my profile, or just click the small globe under my avatar.

he already has one of those

You can never have too many

fixed

did you ever know that you're my hero? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M912EcPDrKM&t=83)

After buying an external hdd to back up my important stuff to, and pulling the computer/my desk to pieces a couple of times, runing all those fucking tests from Western Digital, I could find nothing wrong. So I thought, I wonder what happens if I just unplug the blasted thing, so I did. And nothing happened, all the drives were there, everything runs, it is all good. A vague memory bubbles up through the haze of Bohica and me trying to do the raptor drive thing and failing because one of the drives was kaput.
In conclusion the hdd was broken, has been broken for a while, and has just recently decided to add noisy to it's list of questionable attributes, and once again has proven to be a massive waste of my time.
On the plus side I did see a gaping asshole and get to make fun of Cow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrdEMERq8MA