[SlowToady]

Again, if the data is very important to you, I'd exercise great caution. Regular ghosting and data recovery methods (via software) require that the drive is running, as in spinning, to get data off it. If your drive has just taken a **** on you, every time you power the drive up you are reducing the likelihood of getting anything off of it.

By putting the drive in an external enclosure and trying to copy files off it normally, you're playing with a ticking time bomb. It's that much closer to being totally screwed, to the point where you can't salvage ANYTHING off of it.

I saw "work" in there under pictures and "356 restoration." To be honest, I'd probably send the drive off to a data recovery specialist and have them retrieve the data. It's more expensive, but in the end it's more reliable and you stand a greater chance of getting most of your data off it. I used to know of a few really good places, but have since forgotten the names. Search google for "hard drive data recovery specialist" or something along those lines, and you'll find something. Call them, ask them how they do it. Remember that you probably want to avoid companies that use SOFTWARE methods.

I know I'm advocating the more expensive method, but sometimes it's worth the $$ to have it done right. Call some companies, get some quotes, evaluate if you think it's worth it or not, and go from there. If you're not terribly concerned about the pictures, sure, try and software ghost it. If you absolutely have to have that data, send it out.

And definitely buy a new computer.