If the hard drive is clicking, yes, that is usually a sign it is not within specs.
What you can do is find out the hard drive mfgr and go to their website and download the diagnostic software program.
Then you run the program to see if the drive has problems and if it can be repaired.
However, in this case, if you have a boot sector virus, that could explain the clicking, i think.
Best to fix the possible virus problem first. You can get a free online scan and virus repair by going to trend-micro.com. They are a very good and reliable company, i do the scan all the time, so its safe. Find the online scan page and when it asks if you want to install their program, click on yes. At some point it gives you the choice of 3 different scans, one of which is the virus scan. Only click or say yes for the virus scan. The third one is a scan that will install any missing windows service packs or other important microsoft updates. I dont advise doing this from trend-micro, only do the virus scan, which is the first on the left, dont do the other two. If the scan is not successful for some reason, they you could try again and go for the first 2 scans, the first is the virus, second one i forget the name, but its safe to go ahead with, just dont do the third one, which, again, is a microsoft update. I just feel that one should do any microsoft updates when the system is good, not when we are having problems with it, or if we have a virus. Plus the fact that installing microsoft windows xp service pack 2 can cause problems all by itself. The reason is that some hardware drivers wont work after service pack 2 is installed.
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
