I was watching a movie off this drive and it just stopped playing, the computer kept running but the active read light for the hdd was on solid and the drive was unable to be accessed.

I rebooted the computer and the drive was not longer showing up at POST, so I have tried to boot it on another IDE cable, changed the jumper setting and even tried it in my external case (the light just comes on to say that it is reading but does not get detected by Vista or XP).

I have also tried to detect it with a few tools on an older version of Hiren's Boot Disk, with no luck either, I am getting the latest version to try that but am fearing the worst.

No funny clunks or other noises just spins up then slows down when plugged into the tower.

Any ideas on what is most likely wrong and what if anything I can do my self.

The drive sounds as though it is turning off or powering down after 5secs or so of being attached to power.

It feels and sounds as though it spins up and the head moves (repeats the same action 2 or 3 times) but cant read and powers off.

This is pcb or head/preamp problem.

The pcb have internally programmed unique part of fw for this drive, so you can't simply replace it.
If the pcb is good, there is nothing what you can do, if your data is important, seek for professional help.

Regards,
Janos

results-the-yourself-solutions-t11912.html

Thanks, the drive is under warranty so I shall prepare to claim.

So it could be the PCB and/or the head?

And in either case I need a pro to get the data. Right?

right.