The worst thing possible happened yesterday. My lovely PC just stopped working. It just says there is no C drive then packs up. Now i’ve lost all my .blends, coursework and some pretty expensive music software (I didnt keep all the CDs).
So please, does anyone know how I can get these off my hard drive?
If you computer isn’t booting up? check the cables havn’t become unpluged slighty - it does happen
If you can boot on a live CD of linux or get windows running on an alternative hard drive, hopfully it will detect it pluged in and let you back up to another storage device. Otherwise, the harddrive might be dead. Old little trick of putting it in a plastic bag, sealed and then placing it in the freezer for 40 mins and then let it defrost usally brings it back to life for a limited time…
I’m sure you could use Knoppix to access the drive, and then back-up your stuff. So long as your harddrive hasnt packed in.
If that doesnt work, remove the harddrive, and place it in another machine to access the files. So long as your harddrive hasnt packed in.
If the harddrive has packed in go on the net to find a company that can restore the harddrive to its orignal glory and still keep you with all your files.
I think I should maybe clarify my problem a little more, I werent really specific…
The hard drive doesnt seem to be spinning at all (I just tried to boot up again - you never know)
Did you check inside to make sure the cables to the drive are seated properly? Try pulling them out and putting them in again.
If none of this works, you may have a dead hard drive on your hands, possibly the worst disaster possible in computing. There are companies that can recover your data, but they are extremely expensive.
This should be a lesson to all of us, though: back up!
tried the cable thing. No success 
How much would these companies charge?
Maybe someone just disabled the hard disk from the BIOS.
It can cost a lot, though as i said ealier, crashed drives can sometimes be “revived” by sticking them in a plastic bag and left in the freezer for 40 mins.
If i recall, a member here tried it and worked.
Its not the power supply that is actually faulty?
I had the same problem a few days ago. All I do is open up the case and push the cables in some, all of the cables, not just the hard-drive ones, and wait a while, and play the computer once more.
plug a different power cord into the connector or plug the hard drive into a different computer.
ask on forums for a hard drive that is the exact same as yours and replace the logic board on it.
I’m not sure how much it costs, but I’ve heard that it’s super expensive
they have a hotline you can call, maybe you should try it.
I tried putting a different hard drive into my computer and it worked fine so it’s definitely the hard drives fault. I’ve tried all the cables and stuff. Oh well, in the freezer it goes…
Holy crap it actually worked 
I got a new hard drive and had just enough time to transfer my coursework to my new one before it packed up again.
Thanks lukus (and to think I thought you were just joking me)
Awe the old HD in the freezer trick. I’m a computer tech in Indiana and I can’t tell you how many customers HD’s I’ve “saved” using that trick. The reason it works is beacause the hard drive failed usually do to heat, and when you freeze it the HD will keep cold long enough to grab the data off of it.
Or at least that’s my understanding.
WOW, that is amazing, i thought it was just a joke, i thought it will never work :o
Good to know by the way new_neo that this turned out to be a happy end. 
yep that’s it
heat causes the discs to expand which locks them up
the freezing causes the disc to contract and release, so data can be retrieved!!
I like to learn!