Broken External Hard Drive

[Clippy]

Tried that but didn't work.

Not sure if a new caddy will work either - every time I connect the drive to the USB port I hear a bit of thrashing for a few seconds then it stops

If you need to use a third party to re-build the drive and recover the data I can highly recommend DiskLabs.

[wurzel]

If you need to use a third party to re-build the drive and recover the data I can highly recommend DiskLabs.

Are they pricey? Ultimately it's just to recover a load of photos.

[Clippy]

Are they pricey? Ultimately it's just to recover a load of photos.

Yes.

But, all such services are, in these circumstances, as they know they have you over a barrel.

Why not email them for a quote.

[PAH]

Take it to those geeks down at PC World (Nerd Herd?) and say you need it working as it's got the only copy of photos of you and your girlfriend on holiday, but tell them to please don't look at the folder that says 'bedroom antics'.

If it's recoverable I guarantee they'll have it working within the day. May not be advisable if there really is any content you wouldn't want them to see.