My computer is making a strange clicking noise, what's going on?

A clicking sound from a computer when it loading something usually means one thing. It means your hard drive is very close to dying.

If you start hearing a clicking sound from your computer you should immediately turn the computer off.

If possible try shutting the computer down properly. No matter how you do it, get the computer turned off as soon as possible if you continue to use the computer you could end up doing major damage to the hard drive.

Once your computer is turned off, contact your local computer repair specialist, most can save the data off your hard drive if it is not to badly damaged. 

The most common cause of hard drive damage is from sudden jolts or movements to the computer causing the read/write head of the drive to come in contact with the drive itself. Once there is a hole on the disk it can lead to further damage due to the chip being caught on the head, or moving around scratching the disk itself.

Other sounds to be aware of are a scrapping sound coming from the computer, a sound as if the hard drive is trying to find something and failing or a ticking sound.

Any new sound that your computer is making could lead to data loss so as soon as your computer makes any strange new sounds, you should immediately contact your local computer repair specialist and seek their assistance. 

When you are moving your computers, always be aware that while they are turned on the hard drive is always spinning as there is a chance of it being damaged due to the very small distance between the disk itself and the read/write head. Move the computer gently, and in the case of laptops you have to be extra careful.

Hard drives, due to their mechanical parts, can fail over time, but looking after them and treating them carefully can increase their possible life. You should be aware that while some hard drives will last over 10 years, others might fail on their own after only a couple of hours, like all things with moving parts, there can be failures.