Compaq Presario V6000 hard drive making weird noises?

I bought my laptop back in September 2007. Its specifications are: Intel Celeron M 520 1.6 GHz cpu, 160 GB hard drive, and 1 GB ram. I dropped my laptop a year and a half ago hitting its lower right corner close to the DVD drive, effectively knocking the bolt holding that end together. It has never been a fast performer, but it has been making weird noises coming from it hard drive. With my ear close to it, it sounds like a coffee maker. Its not too loud when the normal distance away from my laptop, but every time I do an action that requires the hard drive, it makes that noise. Could it be a sign of a failing hard drive?

 

Would probably be the HDD dieing. Or it could have moved a little and be sitting on something, I'd open it up and re-adjust the HDD and see if that helps. However, I'm lead to believe that the HDD is dieing. How long has this noise been going on for? Since the drop?

 

I don't know exactly how long, but it has been going for a long time. At least a year or so. Thanks for the advice. I will see if adjusting it works.