hard drive overheating

[foskey]

ive been having some trouble lately, my hard drive has been giving me a lot of problems including an average wait of 15 minutes before i can actually use my computer because it being extremely slow and clicking, and rebooting randomly calling a disk boot error.

now it has decided to overheat and i cant keep my computer running for 20-30 minutes without just restarting and giving me a drive error, it was at a point where it is very hot to touch, then beeps or clicks and sounds like it completely stops and restarts. all help appreciated i have no idea why my computer is so amazing

 

[Harkonan]

sounds like its dead, or on the way. generaly when them things start to make noises its dues to a big drop or age. id start backing up the data and think about a new HDD around now.
how old is the thing and have your droped it recently?

 

[foskey]

ive had this computer for 2 - 2(1\2) years, ive never had a hd go bad so i suppose its doing a good job, also it isnt recognizing my old profiles at all whenever i reboot xp so if thats a sign too.. :\

 

[Harkonan]

have a look using this utility
http://www.hdtune.com/
you can useit to have a look at the health of the HDD.
phisical sounds are a very bad sign, as its usualy the read heads dropping out alignment and making nice big scratches all over the shop. fun stuff.

 

[RicoDirenzo]

Back up your critical data now...do not wait. Buy a new HD and use that one as a frisbee after you have saved the data. You are running out of time. That dirve is a click away from Hard Disk Pergatory!