Hard disk making noise

[anuj_irix]

I am in terrible situation:cry:.It is not related to software thing... My hard disk (IDE 40Gb, samsung) used to make some noise for the last few months...today I removed the cabinet for putting this hdd in to another cpu and now it is not getting detected on any cpu.
It's motor seems to have stucked...which is trying to move the head..but not moving and making noise of tuck tuck..
Have any idea/suggestions for putting it back to work? It is out of it's service period.
thanks in advance!

[miker_alpha]

two notes:
First: if you do manage to get the disk running, as soon as that happens - BACK IT UP!

second: try putting the disk drive in a watertight container (e.g. a plastic bag, well sealed) and leaving it in the freezer (... no I'm not joking!) for a few hours; then try to read the disk while it's still as cold as possible. This may help unstick it for a short time (and see first item.)

HTH,
MikeR

[DenisF]

when the hdd goes tuck tuck, usually means it's dead. visit your local store for a new WD Raptor 10,000RPM in 36gb/74gb, those things come with a 5 year warranty, and 1.2 million hours MTBF.

It's almost guaranteed to live longer than you :p

[anuj_irix]

Finally the hdd is dead...just arranged a new one. I tried freezing my hdd and managed to get in for once (good idea by miker_alpha) guess metal expension and temperature relationship helped. So backed-up some of my important data.
About raptor I gathered informations, nice hdd (will definately try while upgrading my pre-historic m/b without SATA support).
Thanks for suggestions and help!

[miker_alpha]

... and an even better idea: Take regular backups! If possible, on tape, but CD media is so cheap nowadays that almost anyone can afford to burn a CD with backup data every couple of months.

I realize that not everybody comes from a "really important data" situation, but count the time you spent getting your machine to look and run just the way you want it...

HTH,
MikeR