SATA HDD clicking

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hello

my SATAII (hitachi) drive is producing unusual (and loud) click sounds - or 'double-clicks', to be precise. these are accompanied by other symptoms - it appears the fan frequency slows down for a fraction of a second as the HDD produces the click. this SATA drive is one of three drives running in the computer, and is the most recently purchased at that (around a year and a half now); the remaining (IDE) drives are much older, however never show any signs of malfunction.

i guess there's no point asking whether the data are at risk. i'd be more curious to find out the cultprit, as i wouldn't want to run into the same problems if i choose to replace the drive with a new one. it just appears as though the electricity current going to the drive is being cut for a fraction of a second, as the clicking reminds of the sound produced when a computer is switched off abruptly. could it be the PSU is not sufficient to run the system? but why would just the SATA drive be affected by this (as all the remaining drives / connected devices seem to run seamlessly)?

(btw. i'm using an asus p5w deluxe motherboard with win xp sp3).

thank you!
 
The drive is dying/dead. This happens to drives occationally, nothing you did caused it, it just happens.

Get the data you need that is on it copied to somewhere else immediately, then fill out an RMA form and get it replaced.
 
The drive is dying/dead. This happens to drives occationally, nothing you did caused it, it just happens.

Get the data you need that is on it copied to somewhere else immediately, then fill out an RMA form and get it replaced.

well, it's been doing this for over a year now. i just started worrying these days. i will buy a back up drive asap though, thanks for the suggestion. it just seems weird the old drives (4+ years) show no signs of defect, whereas this new drive clicks, so i'm trying to look into other possible causes.
 
You can run one of the hard drive diagnostic tools on it. The manufacturer of the drive will have one on their website, you'll have to run it before you can get an RMA request in anyway.

I've had them hang on for quite a while while making odd noises too, but it will fail at some point, better to have it fail when you have your data backed up than before.
 
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