MBP Periodically blacks out with a faint "hardware" sound

For the last couple of days, my (approximately 2.5-year-old) MBP's screen has been blacking out periodically. When it blacks at, it does so for 2-5 seconds, and is accompanied by a very quite, and I mean the faintest - I don't know what else to call it - "hardware" sound? A bit like the sound one gets when one's Macbook Pro is starting up, but neither as loud nor as extended. Furthermore, this often happens while I'm writing, and the last two times it has occurred I have continued to write while the screen is black, and once it returns, I notice that what I have written has been truncated (for example, I am writing "anthropocentrism" and, once the screen comes back on, what I see is "anentrism." And yes, I DID hit all the keys. I'm a very accurate typist and this sort of thing has happened on more than two occasions). Does this have anything to do with the last update Apple released prior to the release of Lion? I can't remember exactly when I installed the last update, but there might be some correlation there. I just hope this doesn't have anything to do with my hardware...
If it's any help, I have an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (or is it 9600M GT? System Profiler is showing both) graphics card, although, as my description above would indicate to ME at least, it is probably not a problem with my graphics card.

Exact same specs as Mika on my powerbook, and I just recently got the exact same buzzing sound. It sounds like it is coming from under / near the trackpad. Sometimes it is quiet, and other times it is louder.
Running the diagnostic shows no problems. It sounds like a fan with a loose bearing or something else that is rotating and either hitting something else, or not working as it should. It started all of a sudden, and I'm quiet worried about the situation of the computer overall.
In general, almost the exact same problem as the O.P. and none of the solutions I've seen seem to correct it. I suspect it may have something to do with the video card, but I could be wrong (say an extra fan on it). Otherwise perhaps the harddrive, but I would have to know what the internals looked like to pinpoint it.
Any help would be appreciated.
Edit: After looking at another website to pinpoint where the sound is coming from, it is almost CERTAINLY coming directly from the hard drive.
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/PBG4_15_AL_takeapart/AL_PB_G4take-apart.html
The hard drive is directly under the trackpad in the G4 Aluminum. Well, looks like my recent backups haven't been for nought.

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1) Apple brand cards,
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... show all the screens, including Boot up screens, Safe Mode, Installer, Recovery, debug screens, and Alt/Option boot screens. At this writing, these choices include:
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