sCreeching while driving? (While UN-Braking)

[ESPER]

When i first start up and drive my car I hear a screeching sound, grating sound, i cant really source it,but i think its my brakes since the way to stop the noise is to step on my brakes, mainly the rear ones i believe........

do i need new "brakes"? and brakes to me is too general and wide, can anyone one source me an article about the components of brakes, like rotors, drums, shims, disc, etc. i am confused as to what everything is!! thanks!!

[SeVa-S13]

Possibly the brake sensor (cheap piece of metal meant to annoy the hell out of you on the caliper). Ya need new pads.

[neurovish]

if it's high pitched and coming from the rear, then your rear pads are probably low....if it used to be high pitched and coming from the rear, but is now an ugly scraping/grinding sound, then your brake pads are gone.

...or it could be something weird, pads are the most frequent and normal cause though and would be the first thing to check...and it's usually the rear pad that can't easily be seen

[1991240xs]

http://www.howstuffworks.com