idle hard drive = dead hard drive?

[link26]

I had this maxtor 10gb hard drive that came with the compaq that I bought in January 1999.
In May 2002 I built a new computer and stopped using the old compaq. Today, I took out the compaq, which had been sitting in the closet since May 2002, and the hard drive would turn on, make a clack clack clack clack clack......nothing would happen for a while..... then the screen would show some system boot failure. Damn this thing was only 3.5 years old.......

surely this sucker is dead...... But it makes me wonder, say you were to go on a summer long vacation and leave your computer turned off for months. Given my situation, it looks like leaving your hard drive off shortens its life span. Would anyone agree?

Also, does turning your computer on and off, on and off, kill the hard drive too?
Anyone with a dead hard drive want to share their experience and computing habits?

 

[ChefJoe]

I've seen it happen where the bearing grease or dust or whatever on a really old HD will make it stick and stop working after it cools down. Not sure if that's what happened to you but hey, it's a mechanical part.

 

[McCarthy]

Hit it with a rock!

Ok, not really, but give it a gentle, but solid 'thwack' when you power it on. Sounds like it's just stuck, have had a drive do that before after sitting a long time, got it going, never did it again.

 

[WhoDeeny]

in my experience a hard drive making a sound like that is DEAD

 

[boran]

hey, just try whacking it like stated above, dust blocking the motor from gaining momentum mught be the cause, in any case, u wont loose anything ...

 

[link26]

hehe. ok. this sucker is dead. i bashed it like 100 times, and now it won't stop clacking

if i only had the tools, i'd open up the hd lid