older h.d

i hard a hard drive that is about 5 years old

and i checked the status using easy cleaner and it didnt say there was any thing horrible about it...when i checked my computer about 30 min ago it was clicking and said there is an error reading it...could it just be that it is old and pooched?

With a clicking sound being heard that would be the drive heads starting to go most likely. For the age and lower costs seen on larger faster drives the time and effort spend for a drive on the way to the recycle bin? so long old drive your day has come.