hi iv got a philips 320gig external hdd which was knocked over by a rather rude woman who came round ever since the drive has made a loud clicking noise for about the first 3 mins when turned on after that all goes quiet and sometimes the drive will show however when it does show it show 0bytes and 0bytes used is there any way to retrieve the data as my life is on this drive. I took the top cover off and the actuator arm just keeps jumping backwards and fowards between two lines on the inner circle of the platter the eventually stops moving.

you should avoid those rude women! now that you have opened the cover you have little chance to get your data back, I'm sorry. Call a data recovery company, they may have a slim chance. Put the lid back on right away.

Your life is on the drive and you took the cover off? If you have a pain in your head would you remove the top half of your skull? If your life is on the drive send it to a good recovery firm. Be prepared to spend a 1500 - 3000 USD. Some are better than others so do your research.

Let me agree.
pepe

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Adatmentés - Data recovery