Hard Drive Help

[mallik]

I was at my cousin's house yesterday, sitting there, and all of a sudden the computer starts making this wierd clicking/squeaking noise. It sounded like a mouse was in the case. The computer stopped working too, so we opened it up, and found out it was the hard drive.

What's the problem with the drive? What's the cause of the problem? We weren't doing anything at all and it just happened all of a sudden. Can it be fixed? It's a Maxtor if that means anything. The only thing I can think of is that he is on the computer all the time.

If it can't be repaired, can the data at least be recovered? Any help would be apprecited.

 

[XRaider]

The HDD is dieing... time to replace it. (very soon I might add) Bro-inlaw had the same issue.
Can the PC bootup at all?

 

[mallik]

Really? I don't understand how it could be dying. He's only had that computer for about 2 years and he had the HD replaced by warranty about year and a half ago. Is Maxtor really that bad, or is there something he's doing wrong with his setup?

The PC starts up, but it won't detect the HD, so it just boots up as if the CD and DVD drives are the only drives.

 

[tm37]

It could be caused by a myrid of issues.

PS not supplying a constant power stream will slowly kill a HDD as will lack of proper cooling.

I have had maxtors and Wd's and they tend to fail at the same rate.

But with a Good PS and proper cooling I have had NO issues with either brand.