Came home last night to find my external hard drive unresponsive. It was making the dreaded clicking sound.
I used it primarily for backups, but there were still a few important files on it — archived Media Center videos, MP3s and some pictures.
I had read about people freezing their hard drives as a way to restore them temporarily. I decided it give it a try.
I stuck it in a ZipLoc freezer bag and placed it on top of the Minnesota corn in the Cool-Whip container in my deep freeze.
After about an hour, I took it out and hooked it up. No change. I stuck it back in the bag and put it back in the freezer.
So I get it out this morning and hook it up. Click. Click. Click. Whirrrrr. Click. Click. Sigh.
Then surprisingly, I heard this.
Boom, it was back. I frantically copied off about 3 GB of data. Not a hitch. Couldn’t believe it.
EDIT: This method does not work on newer hard drives with hydro dynamic bearings. It also does not work for all types of hard drive failures.