A user reports that their desktop computer is emitting a loud grinding noise shortly after being powered on. Which component is MOST likely to be responsible for this noise?
Faulty optical drive
Malfunctioning thermal paste
Failing case fan
Failing hard drive
The correct answer is 'Failing hard drive'. A loud grinding noise is a classic symptom of a severe mechanical failure within a hard disk drive (HDD). This sound is often caused by the read/write heads making contact with the spinning platters, which can lead to catastrophic data loss. Since the hard drive is the primary storage device, it is heavily accessed during the computer's startup sequence, making it the most probable source of such a noise. While a faulty optical drive or a failing case fan can also produce grinding sounds due to their own mechanical parts, they are less likely to be the cause. An optical drive is generally idle unless a disc is being read, and while a fan failure can cause grinding, the sound associated with a failing HDD is often more severe and is a critical symptom that a technician must be able to identify. Malfunctioning thermal paste does not have any moving parts and therefore cannot create a grinding noise; its failure results in CPU overheating.
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