Hard drive replacement? Will Windows let me?

Here's the problem. it doesn't matter if the comp just sits there on, or is working very hard, and this makes no difference. Everything is fine, and then I hear a rapping sound......sometimes just 1 or maybe almost a dozen in about 3-4 seconds, and then I get a complete freeze. It could happen no matter what the computer is doing. I cant even move my mouse pointer. Every time though, I hear the rapping, then within a couple seconds it's frozen again, no matter what it's doing when it happens...could be looking at Emails, On line, anything can be on and I'm suddenly completely frozen out.

Is it one of the hard drives? I use two Maxtor 300 GIG Sata's. It's such a slower and clunkier sound though. It just doesn't sound like a hard drive.

I reformatted the drives, and after about a week, it happened again. I have not activated the re-install yet. My main question is: Will my current Windows XP PRO let me change the "C Drive?" in other words it would be the computer I've been using, with a new, main drive, and I'm wondering if Windows will shut me out. Also, does this sound like a hard drive problem? I have 9 days left to activate XP Pro.

Thanks.

Dave

 

Hi Halo, and thanks for answering. It sounds metallic, and isn't the fans that I can tell. I tried the Seatools from Seagate/Maxtor, and it found an error. I instructed it to fix the error, and it says it did, but it really didn't. It still fails the long term test.

I'll try the Win version with the link that you gave me. I ordered a 1 Terabyte backup drive, just in case.

Dave