The reason I was looking for information about Star Wars sound effects was to try to find out what they did to the voices heard over the "radios". Think of situations like the X-wing squadron at Yavin. Ring modulation perhaps?

(I allegedly have a degree in music, including "electronic music" which includes stuff like synthesizers and DSP, but this kind of thing is shoved into deep storage in my brain, somewhere between calculus and how to cite sources in a term paper)

Anyway, my Compaq EVO makes a similar sound when it is thrashing really hard. Something about the hard drive, the case, or both gives a ringy quality to the normal disk "grinding" sound that makes me think of the SW sound.