Imac 27' late 2009 clicking sound

[makdeniss]

Hey everyone.

As of now my iMac has started making noises that are very similar to those in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P25bpv0nMQc

Sometimes the system freezes (although the mouse is still working, the famous "beachball" is present and only a restart helps).

Did anybody have the same issue? Is this the hard drive failing? Thanks for any help in advance

 

[xkmxkmxlmx]

I am 99% sure that you're on the verge of a hard drive failure. I only say this because it has happened to me TWICE with my last mac, and that was the exact sign that it was coming. Usually within the week.

Back up everything now, and either get ready to call Apple or order your own replacement.

 

[makdeniss]

Thanks.

I have time machine backing up my stuff constantly

 

[OW22]

Yeah I had that a couple of months ago in my 2006 intel iMac. Had everything backed up with Time Machine though so all was fine. It started to freeze when waking up from sleep and it was a very obvious clicking noise. Eventually one day it wouldn't boot up at all and was finished. I had the dreaded folder with the question mark displayed....

you can see why the future is SSD's. A typical HDD is still a component with so many working parts. Here's a good clip of a HDD failing and what it looks like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd8KwJ2q50g&feature=related

 

[makdeniss]

Gonna start saving for that new 600 GB ssd

 

[makdeniss]

Strangely the sound is now totally gone and the computer is much faster