Computer dead - hard drive problem?

[SYLiam]

Hey there,

Just joined! Sadly I have a big computer problem, I was casually browsing earlier tonight, when my (I think) hard drive starting making a slight split-second whining noise, as if it was loading - it did this every few seconds. I turned off my computer, turned it back on and now... when it finishes the Windows XP loading screen, it goes right back to the when the computer starts up (The start screen usually displaying video card information)

My video card (7600GS) has also been acting up recently, it's been getting louder - with no difference in performance, however.

Is this a hard drive problem? if so, I'll repair it in the morning.

Thanks for the help!

Oh, and also, I have three hard drives, two (one of them being THIS hard drive) IDE, and the other being SATA. The one that I think has died is atleast 7 years old, it's 19GB and 5200rps... or something similar, not too sure on the name of it.

[atomic tofu]

it might be a psu problem
your psu may be dying...or lacks a few sufficient wattages....

I say use another computer and buy a new psu and hd....

[SYLiam]

Okay, will do!

How big of a PSU do you think will suffice? Currently, I have a 400w one I got with my case, so it's pretty bog standard.

[atomic tofu]

400 is pretty much hitting the baseline...
what else do you have? not that you need to say...
but i would shoot for a 550


EDIT: just to make it clear, reason why I say to buy both is...if you have a bad psu....and it messes with your hds....chances are it has prematurely shortend the "mean time between failure"....of the drives

[SYLiam]

My specs are:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (2GHz)
Inno3D 7600GS 256MB
1.5GB PC3200 RAM
3xHDD, 19GB, 2x74GB

That's everything!