Windows 7: Not sure if hard drive is broken

Hey!

I'm trying to fix my mates laptop cause it just went to a black screen when supposed to boot OS from Hard drive. I tried to format the hard drive with Windows 7 cd, but I went up with the installation stuck at 0% and got an Error: 0x80070057.
I am afraid that the hard drive is broken, because I have read about the "Click of Death", and the hard drive makes this low "ticking" sound repeatetly.

But is it possible that the hard drive is broken when I am able to see the partitions in the windows installation?

Or is it possible to check wether it is broken or working?



Thanks!

Each hard drive manufacturer has a diag tool available on their site to test the drive. If there's anything to be saved on the drive, connect it as an external drive to your computer and try to pull off the files. Running the diags can stress the drive and kill it completely. It does sound like it is near death, however.