By happenstance my old laptop has developed this same problem with a conventional hdd (purchased 2007). Win XP. It worked fine for years, then conked out after an operation involving a lot of disk writing. It clicked loudly, then the computer paused, then a blue screen.
Now at startup it asks for a Drivelock password, or else displays 'disk controller failure'.The hd gets hot. I never set a Drivelock password on it.
I transferred the hd to an external enclosure. It clicks once, then I see the same message. I tried cooling it in the refrigerator, but that didn't help. Discussions on message boards give no hope for a cure.
The laptop works fine when I start it from a different hd.