HDD "clicking noise"

YouTube - HDD "clicking" noise.3gp

hello

weird problem with "freezing"
i posted here but that was software related and i fixed it so i ask now here about the problem that i encountered now :|

the youtube link is a video i just recorded
my hard drive started making that noise yesterday when i deleted avast from my pc and installed system mechanic . after the install i had to restart the PC , it booted to desktop and there was nothing on it , just the wallpaper
after second hard restart i got the message no boot device .. like on the video

pls help tnx


note : sorry if i missed the sub section but i think this kind of problem goes here

edit : disregard my last post in the thread "weird problem with freezing "

how can i open the cmd if i cant even boot to bios ?

and yea i read about the click of death .. wish now i made a backup of everything .. -.-

Frikster, do you have another HDD you can try ? :)

i have external hard disks , 1 x 2 gb usb and 1 x 1gb usb , laptop im using right now has no cd-rom ( hp mini 101 )
and i got a working cd-rom with burner on it on stand by on 2 other PCs

what are my options

First, the click of death is caused by stuck heads inside the drive. This is one of the worst problems you can have since the arm of the drive is not functioning properly and therefore cannot read the disks inside. From what you have described that failure is now total.
So disconnect that drive - now. Do not try and boot it or use it. There is a small chance you may be able to recover data, which I'll go into below, but the more you try and use the drive the lower those odds go.

Options:
You can boot into the BIOS without a hard drive connected. Just press DELETE key as you are booting. Most likely your Boot Order is set to: hard drive first. Change that to boot from CD-ROM first. Now you will be able to boot into your Windows 7 installation CD and have access to the repair tools. I'm not saying you can use the tools to repair a dead drive. You could run hard drive diagnostic tools from a CD this way.
But you need the boot order to be CD first to install W7. While in the BIOS turn off any "silent BIOS" settings that hide the BIOS screens while booting. For diagnostics you want to see what is going on.

You could remove the HDD and install it as a secondary drive in another computer - after preparing to recover data - to see if it will spin up and read anything.

If the hard drive is dead you will need a new hard drive.
Buy a new HDD. Install windows clean. Install all the drivers. Install your programs.

Once you've got the new hard drive set up and Windows running you could then attempt to install the old hard drive (I'm assuming all SATA drives here) as a secondary drive and see if it will spin up and read any data that you can copy over to the new drive. If not then you have one FINAL option:

Freezing a HDD. It is reported that this procedure works about 50% of the time to recover data. It is a very limited option. Note: this is a last ditch effort! If the hard drive is not dead now it will be dead-dead-dead after doing this procedure! Only a data recovery company can retrieve any data after this.

Remove the hard drive and put it in a heavy zip-lock bag and put it in the freezer overnight.
Preparation is key. You do not want to waste any time between taking the drive out of the freezer and hooking it up and trying to recover data.
Open the zip lock bag, connect the power and data cables. Start the computer. If the BIOS is set as AHCI you could hot plug the drive.
It may take a few attempts to get the drive to start. If the drive starts up you will only have until it warms up to recover any data - usually 10 to 15 minutes! HAVE A PLAN. Get the important data first (You can lose the cute puppy pics).
When the drive fails again you can try and re-freeze. Sometimes you can repeat the cycle 2 or 3 times before the procedure no longer works and the heads will seize for good.

Please exhaust all other options before trying the freeze method! If you are not comfortable with installing hardware, get help. I you are thinking of using a data recovery company anyway, do that. Freezing the drive could hurt that effort.
Good luck.

Hi TVeblen
Just read your most informative post. I think the OP will have a problem here as he does not have a CD drive in this laptop! He seems to have an ext. CD drive. Could he use that and choose USB on the boot up menu?

It is my impression that:

• The problem PC is the desktop described in the OPs My System Specs, which jives with the machine shown in the video.
• He is posting here using the laptop w/o a CD drive.
• And if the problem PC does not have a CD drive he has stated he has 2 available in other machines.

You might check the condition of your HD with Crystal Disk Info

Download Center - Crystal Dew World