one of my IDE hdds was classified CAPABLE, but status BAD by the S.M.A.R.T. stuff when i booted this morning. it also said: backup and replace. press f1 to continue...
my win xp as well as the linux system with which i am online ATM would not boot after i f1-ed. because the boot manager which lets me choose between xp, ubuntu and vista was on the fooked up harddisk.
well, i was kind of bored and figured 'what the heck', as i've read about putting a broken hdd into the freezer, freeze it, plug it back on and give it a shot.
put the thing into a closed plastic bag and put it into the cold.
after like 4 hours i took it out, put it back on (not inside my case, because cold hdd + water in the air = condensed water on hdd), and voila: boot menu was back there again.
i wasnt able to boot the xp system (took like ages), but ubuntu worked. (YEAH)
(a smart idea could be like setting up a knoppix system on a usbstick, in case you do not have another system to work on. you better do that in case u dont have a second OS and: DO THAT BEFORE U GET THE HDD OUT OF THE FREEZER! TIME IS SHORT WHEN UR HDD IS FUCKED AS IT GOTTA BE KEPT COOL. you better get everything set afore, because every reboot could be the last one for the drive...)
i had my ubuntu to begin with: it started after a reboot because of a file inconsistency, but afterwards the system ran. i had access to all the files of the hdd, as well as to all files in my user.
IIRC it could be a problem if u try to get access to user-directory-related files via another windows. it's certainly gonna tell you about having insufficient right you have... and lets you do nothing.
right now i'm backing up the REALLY essential files, and i am REALLY bored, so i'm typing this here.
because copying takes very very very ... very long. the bigger the file the worse it is. like almost 10 seconds for 0.1 mb. could be that the drive is too cold, but IDC as long as i am able to get my important stuff off off it.
another guy of have read about in a forum told me, he gets like 2 out of 3 drive to revive after shockfrosting them.
THIS IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION FOR REALLY ESSENTIAL FILES, AS IT IS LIKELY THAT PROFESSIONALS WONT BE ABLE TO REBUILD YOUR DRIVE AFTER IT WAS FROZEN AND WARMED UP AGAIN.
and by professionals i talk about the guys charging like 1500€+ for getting your data off the hdd.
hope this could be helpful for someone reading this crap.
)) and 5 
