I've been using many operating systems since many years ago, and I've noticed something curious that I cannot find answers in any place on the internet. It's the different noises produced by NTFS/FAT systems, and the almost-silent sounds generated by UNIX-like systems, including Linux, All-BSD (Mac OS X, also).
I never found a technical article sufficiently clear about this issue, but I swear, I'm not crazy! I just hear Windows 98,XP,Vista,7 in my Maxtor hard drive sounding too much higher than another operating systems... I've tested many hard drive manufacturers and systems... but the conclusion looks always the same: NTFS/FAT is absolutely noisy, specially when the system is going to 'sleep', or simply staying a couple of seconds inactive. It never happens with Mac OS or another UNIX-like.
If you have something significant to contribute, please let me know.