Creative Zen Micro - Freezes/Clicks - Hard Drive Malfuncti

Question

I know that many of you are having similar problems with your Zen Micros...here's the deal with mine (it is a 6gb, probably doesn't matter).
I bought it a year ago, used it for two months, then it sat in its box in a drawer for probably four months. When I went to use it again, battery was completely de-charged (or so I assumed, because it was not turning on). So I plugged it in, it began to charge, but would not turn on to play and was not recognized by the computer, even after several hours of charging. Additionally, when I held it up to my ear, I could hear a repeated clicking noise, like something was stuck inside. I took it back to Circuit City... obviously, it was too late to return it. They had a technician look at it for an hour, but he said it looked like it was fried.
I continued charging the Zen for probably 2 days straight after that, and finally, it turned on and played like normal. I thought the problem had been that the battery was just far too de-charged and it just needed that extra 24-hours of being plugged in. So it continued working for a few months.
Then I put it away for a month. Again, it sat in its box. I took it out a few days ago...same old problem.
- when I plug it into the computer, sometimes it turns on and charges with the battery symbol in the upper corner, and sometimes it just goes to the Creative main screen (as if it's going to turn on and play) but just freezes.
- when it is not correctly charging (just frozen on the main screen), it always continues with the clicking noise.
I read responses on this forum that said to try banging it against the table. I did this and the clicking noise did stop, but it still stays frozen on the main screen.
I am a struggling, broke college student who foolishly spent $200 on this mp3 player...and in the past year, I have only been able to use it for about 5 months. So many people have the same problem with the Zen Micro that it makes me curious as to why Creative seems to not be doing anything to help. They say to send it in and get a new hard dri've - but that will cost $200...and at this point, I would only have to spend about half of that to buy a new Zen Micro altogether! Most of my family and friends use IPods and I have never witnessed such problems.
Anyone have any suggestions?

Answer 1

Yea, I've read the FAQ and troubleshooting. I can get into rescue mode but when I select any option it then freezes along with more clicking. I've spent the last two hours reading about this, I'm quite certain it's hard dri've failure/sticking. My last mp3 player got stolen and I had to wait a week to receive my zen micro in the mail. Now I have to wait another few weeks to have it fixed. I need it at work, so my life sucks without my mp3 player. This is very not cool. Thanks for your reply, btw. Unfortanetly, I don't think there is anything I can do.