Hard Drive in the Freezer Trick

[loose_electron]

Yeah I've been taking these apart when they die for a few years now - I collect the platters :-)

Collect the magnets as well, very strong and useful on the refrigerator or similar.

The temperature trick as described might work, but don't count on it.

Back your data up, make multiple copies....

Data recovery service, might help if its trash, but again no guarantees

[DaveInOroValley]

The freezer trick only works if the read/write head is slightly out of alignment when warm. They are software programs out there that will have good success retrieving data off a drive that mechanically spins.

Data Rescue comes to mind. I believe they make sw for both Mac and PC.

[CrossedRifles]

And this is why SSDs are so expensive.

[orchard]

Putting the drive in the freezer might work. We also used to use a cold freeze spray on components. There are a few software programs that will attempt to rever the drive by blocks, it worked to get my outlook data file.
Backup to a $200 nas is always a good preventer.

I have found that the odds of a drive failure goes up considerably if you don't do backups :-)