So my hard drive is dead.

It's a 40gb 2.5" IBM Travelstar. It works fine for, like, until it gets warm, and then it makes some funny noises--sounds like three clicks, and then a quieter click-slide sound, like it makes when it starts up. It keeps making this sound (about once per second, and then the computer BSODs on me, saying that a process or thread crucial to system operation has unexpectedly exit or been terminated. The hard drive will keep clicking forever.

Now I'm fortunate that I have nothing of particular importance on the drive, because I won't lose anything, but I want to know--what's happened? I bought the computer on ebay and it's still under the warranty, but I don't want to send it in and have the guy say it's my fault, or that the drive is working fine, when I know it's not (I've had it for about two weeks).

Do these symptoms ring any bells? Sound like a fairly standard failure? Heat causing a drive to go bonkers?

Clicking sounds means the hard drive is close to death or is dead. Best to replace it now.

Yeah... back it up ASAP and get a new one. Doesn't sound good anyway...

Have you checked the SMART counters or any other IBM diags or anything?

I have actually checked the SMART reports, and they all say either "normal" or "very good." On the other hand, I've never got to check the reports after the clicking starts.

Not that it matters; the guy was very nice about it, just told me where to send it for RMA.