Even though it's clunking, have you tried to remove it form the external casing, and plug it directly into the mainboard via SATA/IDE? Might appear in Windows and give you a chance to try and copy the data off onto the local Hard Drive.

beardboy said:Even though it's clunking, have you tried to remove it form the external casing, and plug it directly into the mainboard via SATA/IDE? Might appear in Windows and give you a chance to try and copy the data off onto the local Hard Drive.
Fla5h said:Is it a 2.5 or 3.5 drive?
Thanks, i'll give that a go. Just need to figure out how the WD Mybook comes apart.
It's a 3.5" drive.
Managed to get the HDD out without breaking the enclosure. However, no luck with reading / detecting the drive in windows or Ubuntu. If there is no other avenue to pursue, it looks like I'll need to send it off to a data recovery specialist. Has anyone here had any experience of this and needed to send off a drive for data recovery?
Fla5h said:IS this with using the internal SATA on your PC?
Just to update the thread, I've been contacting various data recovery specialists for quotes. Prices have ranged from £200 - £800.
East Anglian Data Recovery Services have been mentioned on the forums previously (quick search) and were quick to respond to my enquiry via website. I have sent the drive off to them and I'll let you know how I get on.
Fla5h said:good luck with it
In the meantime take a look at some cloud storage options or backup drives
Think there were a couple of members here who would recommend http://www.carbonite.co.uk about £40 PA for unlimited storage