Do the platters of the hd still spin? Use a paper towel tube to listen to
the hd. If so, you can recoup the data yourself using any number of
available online recovery programs. It could also be that your boot sector
is corrupt and you can repair that with a Windows disk. If the platters
won't spin, you can try to unstick them with one of the 2 methods I've tried
and know work (about 50% of the time). Hold the hd horizontally about 6"
above a carpet and drop. Or seal in a ziplock bag and freeze for a few
hours. Use immediately after removal from the freezer. These will not cure
the problem only give you one possible last shot at spinning the disks to
get your data. Save the data to a DVD or better to a new hd you piggyback in
your system. If these fail and the data is that important you're looking at
$500 recovery for a pro to disassemble the drive and extract the data. Good
luck.
Gary

"Reka" wrote in message
. ..
Well, I was missing for a while, now I am back with bad news. I suddenly
lost my HD with all of my data. And idiot me, usually so cautious about
everything, made no backup. Well, that will teach me!

Anyone know how much data recovery costs???

Reka