Dead external harddrive?

My girlfriend's harddrive seems to be dead. It's a Simpletech simpletech pininfarina. She's only had it for about a week or two, and has important files on it.

When it's plugged in, it the light turns on to indicate power, but the light indicating data transfer doesn't light up. Not detected by the computer. Initially there is some weird clicking noises, but no sound like the spinning of a platter. So, I'm assuming this thing is pretty dead. She can send it in for warranty, but I can't tell from their website if they actually attempt to recover data when that happens or if they just replace the hardware. If they just replace the hardware, are there any reliable data recovery services that might be able to help?

Thanks for the info.

 

First, assess the value of those files.

Are those files worth more than the hard drive? Because you'll probably have to void the warranty to even attempt to get them.

If they're worth more than the drive, you can open the enclosure up, and try hooking the drive up to a computer. If you can see the drive and access the files, awesome, pull them off quick. If you can see the drive but not the files, a program like recuva might be in order [but lets be realistic, that won't be the case here]. So then you must ask... are these files worth $2000 (or sometimes more like $500 if you get homeowners/renters insurance to help cover it).
If they're worth that, then send it out to a company like drive savers. They should be able to get the data.

 

Are harddrive recovery services that pricey? Damn. If it's that expensive, most likely not. Mostly sentimental stuff she doesn't want to lose, but she might have to, in that case. I guess her best bet is to send it in for possible repairs under warranty.

 

Forgot to mention - there's pretty much zero chance the warranty will cover data recovery.
And yeah, recovery services are insanely expensive.

 

All right, thanks for your help. That's damn unfortunate. Well, this will teach her to backup her files...

 

Truth.

External drives are dirt cheap. No excuse not to backup these days.

 

if the files are important to her Id open up the casing and hook the hd up to your comp/notebook or get a cheap drive casing to put it in and try if that works.
I dropped my lacie external usb drive and it stopped working in the end the hd was fine.
Could weigh the loss of files against the possibility of losing your warranty.
like the 2nd poster said.