I have an early 2011 13" MBP, i7, 8GB crucial RAM, 500 GB Seagate ST9500325ASG.
I've had it for about 4 months. Twice, including last night, the beach ball appears, concurrent with a sound that can only be described as a squeak, coming from, I assume, the hard drive. Then, the beach ball freezes and the machine can only be revived by a hard restart.
The cover is closed and I am using a keyboard and monitor. The Console shows nothing, no kernel panic.
I have done some research, and this sound is not like those recorded on YouTube.
I am at a loss. Is my hard drive on its way out? Should I be concerned?
Update
The responses so far have all assumed that because the hard drive is making noise that it is about to dies. Is this really case? Has anyone had the same circumstance? Also, why does the computer freeze? Is this also a symptom of a dying drive?
Another Update
I've made a video where you can hear the noise. This describes is much better than i can!
Final Update
I cloned the drive using SuperDuper and replaced it. No further issues.
Best Answer
Number one, backup immediately. At least if it dies you got all your data. I would recommend using a drive scanning utility to check your drive for hardware issues. S.M.A.R.T is useless, its pretty good that telling you that your drive is already dead.
All the really good utils aren't free. Techtool Pro has been my tool of choice, however its not cheap.
While you're at it install Disk Drill to get temps for your drive make sure its not over heating and also get some recovery mechanism in place (other than time machine). The basic edition is free. You can grab it from here: http://www.cleverfiles.com/