occasional clicking noise

[mountaineer]

Ive got a 7 gig Wester Digital hard drive that is the slave drive. For quite a long time, it's been making a low clicking noise. Not all the time but off and on. Mostly it does it when I first start the computer up for a couple minutes. Think I should be making plans to replace it?

[glc]

From Western Digital's knowledge base:

Why does my drive make repeated clicking sound?

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Answer
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There are several potential problems that can cause clicking or clunking sounds. First, the drive itself could be failing, or has failed. Other reasons could include a faulty data cable, data corruption, incorrect BIOS settings, or in some cases a virus infection. Suggestions to assist you in determining the cause follow.
The first suggestion below is a definite test you can easily perform to determine if the drive has failed.
Power the system down and disconnect the IDE ribbon cable to the drive making the noise. Leave the power cable attached.
When you attach the drive to only the power supply with the data(40pin) cable detached does the clicking continue?
Yes - The drive has failed and needs to be replaced.

No - A faulty cable is a likely cause. Replace the cable to see if this resolves the issue. If this makes no difference, the drive has most likely experienced some form of data corruption, possibly a virus. In this case the Auto-Detect will generally still detect the drive and FDISK will also report a drive present. Run the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic Tool from a clean (virus free) write-protected floppy and test the drive. If the drive does not fail, then the Write Zeros option may be need to remove all software from the drive. Unfortunately, all data on the drive will be lost.

If your drive still continues to make a clicking noise without the ribbon cable, click on the following link for information on getting your hard drive replaced:
How can I get my hard drive replaced?
For assistance in deterimining if other drive noises are the sign of a problem, please see the knowledge base article below:
How can I tell if my drive noises are normal or the sign of a problem?

[ghost_of_war]

GLC, some excellent info there - thank you!