CPU making odd noises...

[PetHazard]

Hey all, this is my first post (be patient... please...!) And I only know the very foundations of advanced computing, so I'm not very good! I don't even know if I've put this in the correct area, so sorry if I haven't...

I was using my PC to work on coursework when everything frooze including mouse pointer, and my CPU just started to make a repetative ticking sound. A blue screen then appeared stating:
KERNEL_STACK_INPAGE_ERROR
It also stated something about "dumping physical memory", however I restarted, but my PC frooze while it was booting up and whenever I tried to restart, it kept on freezing on the same place. When I switched it off completly and switched it on again, everything seemed to work fine, except a message came up saying "this system has just recovered from a major error" or something along those lines. This is about the third time this has happened and I'm starting to get worried. I recently downloaded some Anti-virus programs which discovered loads of "infections", so I don't know if this is anything to do with it.
Please help me, I have no idea what to do!

 

[Justin]

A repeated clicking?

Repeated clicking most often occurs in a dying or dead hard drive. How old is this PC? I would suggest immediately backing up all important data to CDs, then running the manufacturers diagnostic utilities on your hard drive. The big 4 for desktops, Maxtor, Hitachi(IBM), Western Digital and Seagate all offer bootable floppies or CDs to test your hard drive with to see if it is damaged. I wouldn't continue using that PC until you backup data though.

Give us a bit more information: How loud are the clicks, what device are they coming from, how old is the PC and have you noticed any other symptoms at all?

 

[PetHazard]

Sorry about being vague...
My PC is about 4 years old and the clicks aren't loud enough to be heard outside my room, but the clicks can be heard all around my room if it is quiet. The noises 100% come from the CPU, nothing ever comes through the speakers or monitor or anything else. Other symptons... Well, Spyware Doctor discovered around 6000 infections apparently and Ad Aware found about 4000 infections. I think I remember a problem with "Doctor Watson PostMortem" in which I could not use any direct links via my desktop.
Just to note, sometimes the clicks will just come singularly, when the PC will freeze for about 2 seconds and then keep working again. Hope this helps a bit more.

 

[Justin]

If it is freezing up during the clicking, you're almost guaranteed to have it be a dying hard drive. Backup your important data (not any executables or installers due to the number of infections you have) immediately. The viruses/spyware/etc wouldn't have done anything to the drive, but that's a problem to solve after you replace your HDD. Good luck!

 

[PetHazard]

Ok, just a couple of questions...
1- Does this mean I have to buy a whole new computer?
2- If I can buy a new HDD seperatly, how much is it going to cost? (UK Pounds please!)
3- Is getting a new HDD going to give me a whole blank desktop again, like I new PC?
4- Is there any way I can backup all my data without doing it all seperatly from all files / folders?

If these questions are obvious, then I'm sorry, I don't have a clue what I'm doing...

 

[Justin]

If the problem is the hard drive you will not have to replace the entire computer. If you do not know how to do a replacement/reinstall, you'll probably have to get a friend to do it or take it to a shop.

As for price in the UK, can't help you there. In the U.S. it ranges from $40 - 150 for 40GB - 200GB, depending on what model, speed, interface, etc.

 

[PetHazard]

Ok, thanks for all your help, hopefully I'll get this all fixed soon