External hard disk making clicking noise

[sbadra]

Hey guys...

I have an external hard drive (WD5000C032): http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/search/1/a_id/1413#

I hadn't used it in about four months... It worked perfectly time the last time I used it. But when I tried to use it today, my computer would not detect the device (actually, my computer DID detect it... and "installed device drivers" even though I had used it previously, but would not show up in my Explorer window). I tried rebooting... Same result. I tried another computer... Same result. One thing that's changed is that whenever I power up the external hard drive, it makes a "clicking" sound every 3 seconds. What should I do?

 

[RealBeast]

Clicking noise may well be the "click of death" due to the heads trying to park and smacking the stops -- I would RMA the drive, as I have never had success fixing the issue any other way in this situation.

The only other thing to check is whether the drive has a drive letter in disk management and if not whether you can assign it one, but more likely the former problem.

 

[visa]

If you have data you really need to get off there, you can try putting the drive in the freezer for awhile and then hooking it up again. Clicking is definitely not a good sign; RMA if possible.

 

[sbadra]

Best answer selected by sbadra.