near-dead HD, prolong its' life?

    My hard drive is making some nasty sounds and I've read that noises are a bad sign for hard drives.  I can' get another Hard drive for about a month.  So i'm wondering what I could do to prolong the life of my current hard drive (besides NOT using my computer obviously, but I don't have a choice). 

   Would clearing up space and defragmenting have any benefits for the next month or would it do more harm?  What else could I do to extend the life of my near-dead HD?

If it does die, put in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for a while. Chances it will work for a little while its cold (maybe for a few hours, not like a fucking month)

Buy a new hard drive. They are cheap as shit for a smaller one.