• Computer screeching sounds aren’t that common. However, they’re often a sign of an upcoming total drive failure, so you need to act fast.
• Therefore, don’t hesitate to reinstall your audio drivers. Another quick tip is to perform a clean boot.
• Check the following step-by-step guide on how to reinstall drivers, use safe mode, and more.
• You can repair your drivers manually and with dedicated tools, we covered both possibilities below.

XINSTALL BY CLICKING THE DOWNLOAD FILE

• Restoro has been downloaded by 0 readers this month.

It’s not every day that you hear a screeching sound from your PC or laptop.

The sound could be caused by the heads scraping platters inside the drive and this could lead to data loss, which means you’re close to total drive failure.

It could also mean the head on the reader may have made contact with the drive so you need to power it down.

In other cases, it could be a dead fan that’s not rotating, in which case you need to replace it.

However, the first line of action would be to restart your computer and install the latest Windows Updates as this may help in some cases. If it doesn’t, you can try some of the steps listed here.

How can I fix the computer’s screeching sound in Windows 10?

1. Run the audio troubleshooter

Click the drop-down arrow and select Large icons.

Click Troubleshooting.

Locate Playing Audio.

2. Perform a clean boot

Select System Configuration.

Click Disable all.

Click Open Task Manager > disable Startup programs.

Performing a clean boot for your computer reduces conflicts related to software that can bring up the root causes of the computer screeching sound.

These conflicts can be caused by apps and services that start and run in the background when Windows starts normally.

You will have a clean boot environment after all these steps are carefully followed, after which you can try and check if the computer screeching sound goes away. If not, try the next solutions.

Can’t open Task Manager? Don’t worry, we’ve got the right solution on how to open Task Manager in Windows 10 or Windows 11.

3. Reinstall audio drivers

Right-click on the Sound card.

If you lack the time to go through each and every single troubleshooting tip mentioned below, there’s a shortcut that you need to know about from the very start.

Well, it involves uninstalling and reinstalling your audio driver. In this case, you can complete the procedure by following the above steps.

However, let us remind you that downloading drivers manually may cause conflict with the PC. It’s enough to make a simple mistake and install the wrong one.

That’s one unfortunate scenario only, yet many things can happen when you’re not particularly used to such procedures. In order to prevent all potential issues, don’t hesitate to install the DriverFix tool.

Let us tell you more about how it works. Instead of having to worry about making the right choice, DriverFix performs an efficient scan for you from a database of over 18 million drivers.

Later on, it does what knows the best – you can see how the download is progressing and before updating your audio drivers, the app will even perform a quick backup for safe-keeping.

⇒ Get DriverFix

4. Update audio drivers

Expand the Sound, Video, and game controllers option.

Right-click on the Sound card and click Update driver software.

Another option is to update your audio drivers. You can apply the above steps or even better, use the DriverFix tool that we’ve told you about.

5. Use the generic audio driver

Select Browse my computer for driver software.

Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer – that’s the option you need to choose next.

6. Replace your hard drive

If the computer screeching sound persists, then it may be a problem with the hard drive when the heads scrape the platters inside it.

Before you replace the drive, back up all your data from the computer as the damage may cause data loss.

Expert Tip: Some PC issues are hard to tackle, especially when it comes to corrupted repositories or missing Windows files. If you are having troubles fixing an error, your system may be partially broken. We recommend installing Restoro, a tool that will scan your machine and identify what the fault is.
Click here to download and start repairing.

Check to confirm that it is not the hard drive, as it may be the computer fans making the noise as they also go bad. If you hear clicking sounds, then total drive failure is imminent.

Replace your drive ASAP after backing up your data, then restore it to your computer.

If it is the fans’ fault, and not the hard drive, take off the side case and check if all fans are rotating. If there’s a dead one, you can replace it easily and affordably.

While the side is open, you can also vacuum clean all air vents to remove any accumulated dust.

7. Enter in Safe Mode

Select Troubleshoot.

Click Advanced options.

This starts Windows in safe mode, including the network drivers and services you need to access the internet or other computers on the same network.

Once you’re in safe mode, you can perform a System File Checker (SFC) scan, which checks all protected system files, and then replaces the incorrect versions, with the genuine, correct Microsoft versions.

Here’s how to do this:

Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.

Type sfc /scannow.

If you’re having trouble accessing Command Prompt as an admin, then you better take a closer look at this quick guide.

Do the following to exit Safe Mode:

Deselect or uncheck the Safe Boot option box.

8. Check volume and BIOS settings

Sometimes the playback recorder may be set to Listen to this device, and this, along with mic amplification can be set higher than normal causing a feedback loop.

So the computer screeching sound you hear is an amalgam of the cooling fans, system sounds, and other ambient noises recycled through the mic and amplified continuously through the speakers.

Change the range of sound from high to one that’s optimum for the speakers to output.

You can also check your BIOS settings as sometimes – and on different computers – this is set to alarm when the CPU hits a specified level (degrees).

You can raise or lower this threshold and see if the computer screeching sound goes away.

Another reason for the computer screeching sound is your frame rates may be too high for the monitor so you need to check the monitor refresh rate normally at 500-60Hz and set yours to match.

This will stop the noise from the capacitors on your graphics processor unit (GPU).

That would be all! Let us know if any of these solutions worked by leaving a comment in the section below.

For more guides check out these great Windows 10 troubleshooting tools.

Assuming that you’ll encounter similar issues, just bookmark our Windows 10 Troubleshooting Hub.

ncG1vNJzZmivmaOxsMPSq5ypp6Kpe6S7zGiaqKWgqsGmvoysmqudlZi1qrrGZqqorZ6Zeqe112g%3D