Just about a week ago, my HD started making intermittent clicking noises. It's sort of like the noise that a laptop HD makes when it parks its heads, only much louder. It only happens three or four times a day, and I definitely can't reproduce it. I've had the computer for almost a year and it's never made any sound like that before.

I've read that sudden noises are usually an indication that the HD is dying, but every single utility scan I run (MS Windows 2000 ) tells me that there's nothing wrong with the drive (I have Seagate HD).

Is it possible that a drive has physical problems but a software utility can't pick it up?

there is no software that can actually tell you a drive is failling, i've had them go in a matter of minutes.
It does sound suspicious, but it could be many things, a shift in your case, a loose screw.. are you sure it is coming from the hard drive itself?
I have a hard drive that made noises then one day it stopped making them... still using it and that was over 3 yrs ago.
When a drive is failling most often the read arm slows, or the drive begins to spin with some irregularities, these are the things software can pick up and they try to guess based on the % of errors if the drive is failling or just common alignment error (that all dirves have to some degree).
It may not be a bad idea to think about getting another drive, or atleast backing up important data, even a drive making no signs of failling could fail right...... now, lol

__________________

</Dream In Code>
-William. § (marvin_gohan)

Some drives can be diagnosed with S.M.A.R.T. and warn of an imminent failure. I had this actually work one time. Was nice when I got a decent warning. I backed everything up and then kept the drive in service in a non-critical area and it completely failed a few weeks later.

If the drive is clicking it is likely going to expire soon. I would get as much data off of it as you can and then search for a replacement. If it is still under warranty you would want to RMA it.

The worst part is, while my HD is still under warranty, they'll tell me HD noise is normal and I know they won't send me a replacement until it actually dies, at which point I'll be screwed for a few days. I guess I can't blame them, since I assume that a lot of people call with "problems" which aren't actually problems, but it's still unnerving to have to sit here and wait for the slow death.

Thanks for your response.

enigma,
You may want to try HD Tune. It has SMART support and will let you know if a HDD failure is impending for sure.

If you want to read up on SMART, check out this Wikipedia entry.

Regardless, better start backing up....