Failed Hard-drive

I went to un-backup my backup and transfer a copy to my PC from my external 160GB Deskstar, housed in an enclosure, and it started making funny noises and turning off. Dissapointed I decided to hook my SATAdrive into my PC to try an internal transfer and more funny noises came from the drive and the computer failed to boot. (OS Drive still in). Removing the backup it starts up fine but now I kinda wanna get my data off this failing/failed backup before I replace it as it is my only backup since I formatted my laptop. Silly me :(

Anyone got any ideas on breathing life back into it for one last hi-ho-silver?

Try lobbing it in the freezer for a few hours (in a plastic bag). Then hook up and see if it works for a while. You might get one or two attempts at this. Otherwise probably not looking promising and off to the data recovery specialists if it's important to you.

Nothing AMAZINGLY required, but I would pay to get this stuff back, how much would you think it costs?

Depends how much is on it and how much of it you need back, between £100-£150 i'd assume

The freezer trick however, is hit and miss

It also depends on whether the drives are stillcommercially available as what the recovery guys tend to do ( if the head mechanism is knackered which it sounds like) is buy an identical new drive and replcae the platters from the new drive with your platters. Sounds like you could do it at home right? Sadly you need a clean air environment to do it hence why they can charge mega bucks

Most data companies start on a no fix no fee basis but you are looking at about £300 (+VAT) minimum - more if physical dismasntling of the disk is required. The reason it is expensive is because it can be labour intensive, and the capital costs of setting up a cl;ean room etc. If you do want to pursue this, try

http://www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk

I have contavcted them before (fortunately I got the stuff back myself!) They will do a free evaluation for you - they are based by London Bridge (IIRC) so you could hand deliver if you are near London. It costs nothing to call them!

The freezer trick can work - but if the disk has suffered a damaged head, spinning it up will only make things worse. The freezer rtrick works better if it is a sticky bearing on the platter spindle or head positioner - but sadly you have no way of finding that out.