Question : Problem: IBM Thinkpad A21m (NoteBook) HDD failure

It was working fine for about 3 years...Suddenly it gave a TIC-TIC-TIC-ing sound when one of the software tried to move the file from one drive to another...a 800MB file...

then after a while it was ok....then again same sound appeared..when i was watching some big video files... after few occurences, it throw a BLUE SCREEN of death, saying STOP *****
***ERROR...

i tried to re-start, it said, HARD DRIVE NOT FOUND. Again i switched off the system and tried to take-out HDD and put it back again. and then while re-started it used Phenix Boot which is last in the order of booting...and said, Media TEST FAILURE, OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND.

The next day when i booted it didnot throw anything but booted as if nothing had happened.....
so i  used another pc to download DFT from ibm and tested drive and as usual some error found , as it suggested i used ERASE DISK option...and then formated disk with FAT32 partition and LOADED win2000 again. again last week it failed in the SAME routine above. but by this time i didnot use any big movies nor big files...but the the system was on for 12 hours....this time i brought it and fixed the operatng system of course it found some error. then again it crashed by the same routine. first TIC TIC sound...then it stops...if i dont shut down again it comes , freeze the pc and then BLUE screen appears.

My question is ,
1. is my HDD dying?
2. is it some kinda virus? ( already installed trendmicro but it runs auto update every 2 minutes )
3. If its boot sector virus any suggestion to FIX?

My System Details are :

IBM Thinkpad A21m (TYPE: 2628), PIII 800MHz, Windows 2000 Pro.
HDD : TRAVELSTAR IC25N020ATCS04-0
HDD FRU : 22L0089

My comleted Tests/ Fix are :
1. IBM/HITACHI DFT Erase Disk / Erase-boot sector / Excercise cycle for 5 hours
--> NO ERROR FOUND
2. Win2k drive test --> No error found

Answer : Problem: IBM Thinkpad A21m (NoteBook) HDD failure

oh ya, couple more things, before you do change parts out of the drive, you will void any warranties any of the drives you open up.

and in order to do this right, and without causing damage to the new components:  of course be careful dont scratch any of the platters etc.  
do this in a clean room environment (no dust!!!), and you will need to make sure to RESEAL the drive in an AIR TIGHT VACUME Sealed enclosure.

If you do not do these things, you will damage the drive, or it will not function properly, or it will not spin at the appropriate speeds of the drive IE: 4500RPM or 5400 RPM etc.

OH And another important thing, if you do find a drive/buy one or whatever, to swap parts, you will need to make sure it is identical.  The circuit board revisions need to be the same and such.

So what you are most likely looking for is the same model number and the same revision number on the board.  If it is different, the parts may be different and your old drive's board may not be able to run it.