3 year sounds like a pretty short life span for hdd.  have you done any thorough diagnostic test of it?  on ebay sometime seller lists used hdd with description of "no bad sector" although most seller just say "tested working".  some seller offer 30 day free return as sort of warranty but you may have to pay return postage.  unless you really need 1 tb, just get a smaller used hdd for normal day to day operation and back up data frequently.

Maybe the hard drive contains bad sectors, follow the below steps to scan and fix the bad sectors:

1. Type cmd in Windows Search box, right click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator:

2. Run the command: chkdsk e: /f /r /x

Then restart to see if it solved or not.

Or you could backup files on the hard drive, then reformat the hard drive.

Good Luck.

Best regards.

I feel the same and was surprised the HDD malfunctioned after just 3 years. When the drive first started clicking, I ran several diagnostics tests and there was no indication of any underlying issues. A 1TB drive is what I purchased only because it was on sale at the time. I will certainly do fine with something smaller. Thanks so much for your suggestions.

I tested the HDD for bad sectors twice. The first test found a few corrupt files but the second was error free. I also ran sfc /scannow to be on the safe side. Thanks so much for the prompt reply.

"...sometimes the drive won't turn at all..." - Meaning the PC freezes?  The clicking sounds you mentioned and then PC freezing sounds vindictive of malware.  I've been there.  So I'm not surprised running diagnostics didn't turn up anything wrong with the HDD.