Strange "camera shutter" sound coming from compute

Post Reply New Topic

Hi,
Every now and then at completely random intervals, I'll hear a sound like a camera shutter coming from my computer. It's not quite the same as a shutter, but almost. I have ruled out the possibility of an opened sound file running in the background, the search window with the dog icon that makes a scratching noise with its paw, banner ads with sound effects when rolled over, everything. I do a full virus scan weekly and I'm careful not to click any links that might be suspicious. I use Firefox 13.0.1, my mom uses Internet Explorer 9. We have Windows 7.

It almost feels like someone is taking a screenshot from within my computer - is this possible?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Those "out of nowhere" noises, spoken words, ads, etc are the result of dagnabbit malware. Gets my goat. Malwarebytes should correct the problems. And it's free.

Thanks Yeah, it's a strange noise alright. Like a shutter, followed by a click.

Its not when you click on your files is it? Windows 7 has sound scapes, where you can have sounds for clicking on your files and such. mine was an interesting one which only works sometimes, mainly when i dont have a media player going, but it still annoys me if im not expecting it. and YES its possible for malware and trojans to access programs in a computer to make captures of ones screen, i believe certain keylogers can do that. if malwarebytes doesnt help, also try these 2 good products.

Grisoft's AVG
and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware

both can be obtained at Cnet's Download.com

Mind you, one must have pretty high speed internet to actually update Ad-Aware, cause its updates are soo freaking big >.< but its really good. got rid of a keylogger i had on my computer =)

I downloaded Malwarebyes from Cnet and am running that right now - so far it's found about 30 objects. I usually use Charter Security Suite, I'm running that now as well. It hasn't found anything.

Teredia...nope, it usually happens when I'm browsing online, just reading webpages. No background programs, nothing.

You could also try Microsoft's "Malicious Software Removal Tool". It's free if you have a legit copy of Windows.

To prevent future issues, I would add a few extensions to Firefox, like Better Privacy and Noscript as well as Ad block Plus. Ever since I started doing this, my computers have run clean and not picked up a lot of garbage from the net. I set them to delete all cookies, super cookies, etc. at the close of each session. Plus, I allow through very little on my white list with the Noscript. Everything else I get to pick and choose if can run on my system or not. This lets me block things like Google Adsense as well as a lot of tracking programs that just love to eat up hard drive space. I also like to run Flagfox as it lets me see the country of origin for any site I am using. This way, if it comes from a high threat location (The Russian Federation, Nigeria or China, for example), I can be extra careful when using the site.

Are you sure it simply isn't the normal "navigation" windows sound? Have a look to see what sounds you have set. Personally I turn that one off because I find it annoying.

have you checked taht its actually coming from the speakers and not the pc itself?

i have had very odd harddrive, capacitor and fan sounds in the past.

Turn off the speakers or turn the volume on your computer down to zero. Does the sound go away? If not it may well be the hard drive. In that case, if it is a new sound then the hard drive could be about to self destruct. Some drives do make odd clicking noises anyway but if they suddenly get louder or go on for longer you need to pay attention.

I would recommend backing up any important data now. If your hard drive dies you could lose all of your data. Even if this isn't the problem, it is probably a good idea to do a backup if you don't already do it on a regular basis.

It's the sound of the gov't taking pictures of you!

sometimes a shifted cable can also slightly impact the fan, sometimes this even presents in arythmic or complex patterns, not just the drone of several thousand rpm's one would suspect(that most often happens with poor cable mangament when putting a pc together for the first time).

Thanks for your advice everyone. I'm still not sure exactly what the sound is, but I'll listen closely for a few days to see if it's still happening.

RazorEddie.......I turned off the speakers last night while I was working and didn't hear it. I turned them back on today to see if it would make a difference and still haven't heard it. The sound happens at random intervals - sometimes a couple times a day, other times every few days.

Oodain.....I'm pretty sure it's coming from the speakers because I almost always leave my volume on and this is usually when I hear it.

Tallyman.......Since starting this thread and reading about the problem online, I've turned off all sounds on my computer. Now I'm just waiting to see if I hear this strange sound again.

outofplace.......Thank you for the suggestions - I have added the extensions you suggested. Malwarebytes has found a lot of crap on my computer that Charter Security Suite missed.

Just wondering...does Malwarebytes protect my computer from the same type of malware that is responsible for tomorrow's predicted internet blackout? A visit to a DNS changer check up website says my computer is working properly.

Another cause can be radio interference. Oddly enough, at one place I lived, on occasion my (wired) speakers managed to pick up radio transmissions from passing taxi cabs for a second or two! Freaked me out first time I heard this happen.

It’s not malware or a virus or screen capture. It is the capacitor form your HHD(Hard Drive) and it is completely normal. If you want to get rid of the sound you can upgrade to a SSD( Solid State Drive). Because it has no moving parts there is no need for charged power to spin the disk

First: I have never heard nor experienced a personal computer that had hardware that made temperamental noises like that.

Second: I hope that you're aware that this thread is seven years old.