clicking HDD

My hot HDD has recently started to make intermittent clicking sounds and my laptop takes ages to boot (20+ mins!!!).

The clicking usually occurs during bootup and when opening applications. There's usually not much clicking whilst browsing, and performance seems to be ok once the laptop is up and running.

Is there a piece of software to help diagnose (and hopefully fix) this problem?

OR

If I need to replace this HDD is it just a case of copying my C:\ drive to a temp external HDD, then copying to the replacement - or would I need to reinstall stuff?

 

I would suggest getting a new hard drive and re-install everything, but save all you're photos/music/videos/documents, etc.
It's always good to reinstall everything every once in a while (1-2 years)

 

Backup your files ASAP. A clicking sound is indicative of a dying HDD. You could make an image of your system and load the image onto the new drive with a program like Acronis.

 

I would back up your data now. Then run chkdsk /r on it. Or better yet see if your manufacturer has some sort of diagnostic utility, most should.

 

Agreed. Backup important data ASAP. Then download HD Tune and take a look at the SMART status for the hard drive. After that, if the SMART status is okay, run a check disk (chkdsk /r, thanks Tsunade).

When that's all done, get a new hard drive any way. Clicking sounds are not ever a good thing.

 

Thanks for all your replies guys. I do regular backups and full checkdisks, which didn't fix the problem. Just seen 372 in bad sectors.

Think I'll investigate doing a full image backup using acronis.

 

Yeesh that's alot of bad sectors. I would check out your backups, with a failing drive sometimes data can be corrupted.

Click sounds usually do mean a bad drive, but sometimes those cheapo USB connectors or USB extension cables don't provide enough power and the drive will make a clicking noise.

 

Seriously, stop doing anything with the drive unless it involves getting data off the disk. Even scanning for bad sectors probably made a few more go bad...

 

What everyone has said is good. Clicking can be a sign of a failing drive.

I have noticed on Dell's website that several firmware updates are available for Seagate notebook drives to resolve clicking sounds. If you own a Seagate, it may be worth checking their site to see if there are updates.

 

I had the same drive do the same thing last month. As soon as it started clicking i high tailed my to the local computer store and picked up an ssd. I've had so many hd's fail on me and it always started with a clicking a week after they would die.

 

*** update ***

- So I ordered an external 2TB HDD and a 500GB scorpio black BEKT drive.
- Used Acronis trial version to create and validate an image backup
- replaced old HDD with new disk labelled as scorpio black WD5000BEKT.
- restored image onto new drive (took ages!)
- finally booted up new disk, all looks well, except that device manager says the new disk is a WD5000BPVT-80HXZT1, even though it is labelled as a BEKT.

A quick google reveals that the BPVT is a scorpio blue with only a 5400 rpm drive. Windows experience index for the primary disk drive has gone from 5.8 down to 5.5.

Grrrr... Oh well, suppose I'd better contact the vendor for a replacement. I did note that most online retailers were out of stock for the BEKT and at the time I thought I was quite lucky to finally find one with immediate despatch.

Has anyone come across mis-labelled drives before? Is this a genuine mistake by the manufacturer, or do you reckon its a scam?