Can I retrieve data from a possibly broken ext. hdd?

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Hi...I have been using a 160GB Freecom external hdd with my laptop (Windows XP) for awhile, but today it started to make clicking noises and my computer is no longer reading it. The ext. hdd runs, but then gives up. After creating a system recovery, I uninstalled the drive under device manager to try to get it to reinstall, but the computer recognized a usb connection and not the hdd. I also connected the ext. hdd to another pc, but it said there was a problem with the install and the device might not work correctly and it didn't recognize the disk. So I guess what I really need to know is if I can still retrieve the data on the hdd since it is really "likely story" important. Am i better off just bringing it to the Best Buy Geek Squad? I've tried a data recovery software, but it didn't recognize the disk.
 
Once you start hearing the clicking you can forget recovering data with software recovery programs.
 
I figured it wasn't a software problem, but I guess I'm reading too many "solutions" on the internet and giving it a last ditch effort.
 
Hard drives that click can sometimes be made readable (for a while) using the freezer trick (there are some threads about it in TechSpot).
 
Ther's many ways to get your data back but maybe corrupted, once the hard drive start click you have a big problem but ther are solution, expensive ones too. You can 1st look at the threads that Mictlantecuhtli refer, also look at the manufacture website and look for firmware updates. Some manufactures have it. but you also have to use a pc to do it, you can't update it by USB->IDE/SATA. Other way... the expensive one, is to look for a lab of data recovery... but only if your data is like some fact. of an enterprise.
The last solution (or not), is to forget the hdd, open it, and ripout the two serve magnets, they are realy powerfull.
 
Ther's many ways to get your data back but maybe corrupted, once the hard drive start click you have a big problem but ther are solution, expensive ones too. You can 1st look at the threads that Mictlantecuhtli refer, also look at the manufacture website and look for firmware updates. Some manufactures have it. but you also have to use a pc to do it, you can't update it by USB->IDE/SATA. Other way... the expensive one, is to look for a lab of data recovery... but only if your data is like some fact. of an enterprise.
The last solution (or not), is to forget the hdd, open it, and ripout the two serve magnets, they are realy powerfull.

how does ripping out the serve magnets do anything other then to have some owerful magnets from a dead drive?
 
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