Hitachi hds720101 hard drive makes occasional clunking noises

Question edited to add maker.
Question moved to model category.

The most likely reason is worn CV Joints just behind the front wheels.

Clicking Hard drive When a hard disk makes a clicking sound and the computer does not detect it then the hard disk is faulty. This is commonly known as "The click of death".
There is no way of fixing this hard drive, if you need to recover your data, then there are companies that can recover data off faulty hard drives BUT it will cost you an arm and a leg for their services.

The noise is probably a repeatative clunk sound. If so then afraid its no good and you will need to buy a new one. I have been using WDD hard drives for years and they are the best. If you enter the bios you will most probably see that it is detected. The clunk is the head hitting the platter. Any data on the drive will not be readable. Srri

It sounds as your hard drive has a logical failure. To remedy this download the EASEUS Partition Manager Free, and run a partition recovery or partition repair. Hopefully, the unplug of the hard drive did not cause any mechanical defects and you will be able to fix the logical/software issue with Easeus.

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When a hard drive makes a clicking noise, it is faulty. The clicking noise is the heads swinging back and forth. This hard drive is dead and the data is lost. If you desperately need to recover your data, there are companies that can recover and copy your data from faulty hard drives BUT it will cost you an arm and a leg for their services.

Its problem two things. One, the fan on the heat sink or your hard drive. More than likely your hard drive.

Unfortunately what you are describing is a damaged platter inside the hard drive. You may be able to get a technician to recover some data but generally this means the drive is gone forever.

A clicking hard drive noise is a sign of a hard drive thay is not long for this world. Make sure you backup your data periodly before it fails completely.

How about the U joint? If it's shot, you will hear a clunk when u start up. You probably already know, but jack up the back of the truck (both wheels off the ground) make sure u blocked front wheels front and back so it can't roll, use jack stands so u don't get squished, truck in neutral, e- brake off, climb under, grab driveshaft and twist back and forth to see if there is slop or play in the rear universal joint. Let me know what u find. Good Luck, and don't get squished (or squashed). countrycurt0

Most likely you are experiencing a hard drive failure.  The Click of Death is normally a good indicator.
Most likely a hard drive will resolve your problem.  If the system is under warranty, contact the vendor.  If not, you can buy a replacement HDD normally for less than $100
One source I like is http://www.newegg.com