# What's this swishing sound coming from my new (used) computer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2010, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-swishing-sound-coming-from-my-new-used-computer/530976 "2010-03-02T07:34:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-swishing-sound-coming-from-my-new-used-computer/530976/1 "2010-03-02T07:34:49Z")
Recently got an old laptop from a coworker- Works fine,except, is constantly has these swishing sounds coming from the speakers. It’s always one, followed by a 2 second pause, and then another slightly more quiet one. “swish…[SIZE=“1”]swish[/SIZE]” It happens every minute or 2 it seems. It sounds like a noise caused by something being “done” like a file being deleted or mail being sent or something like that (not specifically those sounds though, but similar somehow). which makes me uneasy because I’m not doing anything to cause it. Definitely coming from the speakers, because its loud and clear in the headphones when I’m wearing them. Any ideas before I give this thing back due to sheer annoyance/paranoia? ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-swishing-sound-coming-from-my-new-used-computer/530976/2 "2010-03-02T10:36:53Z")
If it is what I think it is, this literally drove me crazy for **years**. Windows XP? Check to see if you have an explorer search window open. And if you do, see if you have the stupid little animated dog “search assistant” enabled. And if you do, watch him for a few minutes and notice that he occasionally **scratches himself**. Man, this pissed me off when I finally figured it out. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-swishing-sound-coming-from-my-new-used-computer/530976/3 "2010-03-02T11:09:54Z")
> [@ntucker](#): > > If it is what I think it is, this literally drove me crazy for **years**. Windows XP? Check to see if you have an explorer search window open. And if you do, see if you have the stupid little animated dog “search assistant” enabled. And if you do, watch him for a few minutes and notice that he occasionally **scratches himself**. Man, this pissed me off when I finally figured it out. Hey, it’s nothing to switch to Linux over! I mean, Microsoft can do a lot worse. OP: The search assistant isn’t a bad idea if it’s actually going through the sound system, but I’ve had something similar on my old computer when a wire wasn’t properly shielded. The speakers would pick up sound from inside the case, making a funny buzzing noise when I did certain things. I hope it isn’t that, as taking apart and putting together a laptop can be quite un-fun. ---
**Author:** ![mil0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mil0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mil0)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-swishing-sound-coming-from-my-new-used-computer/530976/4 "2010-03-02T11:25:42Z")
If it’s a laptop, it might be the built-in microphone. It will make a “swishing” sound when your hand brushes over it. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-swishing-sound-coming-from-my-new-used-computer/530976/5 "2010-03-02T15:53:58Z")
> [@ntucker](#): > > If it is what I think it is, this literally drove me crazy for **years**. Windows XP? Check to see if you have an explorer search window open. And if you do, see if you have the stupid little animated dog “search assistant” enabled. And if you do, watch him for a few minutes and notice that he occasionally **scratches himself**. Man, this pissed me off when I finally figured it out. Holy cow! I can’t believe I didn’t make that connection! Thank you-that’s exactly it. It’s a horrible sound to use for a dog scratching. It sounds like someone is remotely deleting my files or something. ---
**Author:** ![bonitahi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7993a0/32.png) [@bonitahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonitahi)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-swishing-sound-coming-from-my-new-used-computer/530976/6 "2010-03-02T16:37:34Z")
Bootis, Ain’t this site great? Problem solved. ntucker this time. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-swishing-sound-coming-from-my-new-used-computer/530976/7 "2010-03-02T18:30:12Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Hey, it’s nothing to switch to Linux over! What? ---
**Author:** ![timacross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@timacross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timacross)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-swishing-sound-coming-from-my-new-used-computer/530976/8 "2011-06-09T05:02:04Z")
This has been bugging me for an embarrassing amount of time! Like try ten years! hah haha haaa! :smack: so funny! thank you so much ntucker! 🙂 Only in windows would this happen. (and i was thinking it had to be a really well hidden piece of malware… each time i upgraded or downgraded my pc, i would search back through my old files and in doing so would then suspiciously hear these swishing noises - drove me nuts - and so i thought there was something hidden in my old disks that had never been detected and defined by antivirus engines!) wonderful! thanks again. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-swishing-sound-coming-from-my-new-used-computer/530976/9 "2011-06-09T13:43:12Z")
Thank heavens. I thought maybe your computer was possessed by Harvey Fierstein.