Loud Whirling Noise from Laptop / Best Computer Diagnostic Program?

I just realized my ASUS is way older than yours and yours has that dual fan setup I'd forgotten about. And it was your thought that it was some kind of whirling noise which had me focused on either fan or HDD.

Fan failure normally happens in a way that doesn't allow for off and on noise. They normally just flat out make lots of noise and then quit.

An HDD, on the other hand, can be very odd with noise. You can hear something and then it goes away for any number of reasons and that includes just jiggling the unit around, and even transporting it to that computer shop could jiggle some part back into a good setting long enough to pass a quick check by the shop owner/employee and think it is fine, but then later it starts acting odd again.

But you have DaveM121 offering good advice, so go with that.

But an HDD failure can't really be diagnosed simply by the fact that it seems to be working fine at this or that time and under this or that sort of load. Even sound doesn't always give you warning. But that the sound you are hearing is intermittent gives me a sense you can remove either of the fans as being the trouble, unless it is something sort of stuck in a vent, BUT the shop would have seen that and have removed that and the sound should not have returned. I'd go back to your original HDD idea and not trust that it seems to be okay.

But try out DaveM121's advice, too. I'm sure he is better at this troubleshooting stuff than I am.

Hello Dave,

I've downloaded and using Speccy right now.
Should the issue come up again, what exactly should I do, or screenshot, or save that will give you an idea of "Oh according to this log or screenshot, (THIS) started to spike so it's probably this that's causing the issue"

Thanks for the reply!

I'm pretty sure at this point I can rule out HDD failure because...

1. When the computer boots up. It's fine. No noise. When it sits there in desktop. Nothing. Using Microsoft Word. Fine.
   When I open up the browsers, thats when it's more likely that loud whirling noise will happen. Most notably (maybe directly or indirectly related/coincidence) when I'm watching a video on YouTube or other video services. That's when it's more likely that I'll hear that loud noise to the point where I gotta shut everything down.
   Now, not always. Sometimes it will play videos for hours and it's fine. Sometimes, I boot up my browser and the second I start a video, whirling noise boots up.

Even when I open task manager and look at the processes and performance, everything looks normal. HDD stats look normal. Ran a Chkdsk and everything is normal too. My buddy asked to see certain stats and tests and he concurs that it doesn't seem to be the HDD, so I'm guessing it's something inside the computer and close to the HDD (is what I'm guessing), maybe a graphics card?

I just know it's coming from that area I circled and the largest thing there is the HDD. It could well be something else...

2. I have done a backup of everything on my laptop!

Usually do that twice a month, regardless

3. No heat at all. On top where my hand usually sits. Around the sides. Nadda. 0 heat.

Hi, I am Dave, I will help you with this.

Download the free Speccy utility and use that to monitor your laptop, that will show you the temperatures and hardware usage.

If that indicates it is the drive, then download the widely available free CrystalDiskinfo utility and please provide a screenshot of what that indicates.

If it is the fans, then either the vents need to be cleaned out, or the baring in the fan is causing this or the thermal paste on your processor needs to be replaced.

Because you are "hearing" noise it is obvious you have a hardware issue and a software log is unlikely to indicate what that hardware problem is.

Very first thing I would do is get two large enough GB USB sticks and download all 'document/picture/the like' data to those two sticks. Or connect that unit to another unit that can handle the transfer of that data.

After that I would be checking the bottom for unusual heat. Just a quick check, mind you. Basic maintenance procedure that is. Nothing to do as a result of any odd heat you may think you feel. Just log that information in case it is needed later.

Now, a question; why do you think it is the HDD you are hearing and not the fan? I ask because I would be very careful in being so sure from where you are actually hearing that sound. Sound can be very tricky when troubleshooting and can easily fool you as to where it is actually coming from, even in a small unit like you have there.

After I post this I am going to go get my ASUS unit and see what else I can find out before a next post. BUT you be sure to save your special data, please. You might be correct that it is the HDD and so failure is very possible.