WD hard drive issue

[Milbo32]

Hey there,
So I have an older Western Digital 500gig hard drive (Model: WD5000C032) and it recently stopped running. My computer will occasionally detect its there but cant access it. It sounds like the motor stopped running. Putting my ear up to it it sounds like static. (great troubleshooting I know)
Is there a way to (a) fix it or (b) save the stuff on it. Logic tells me that if it doesn't spin (b) is not going to be an option.

Any assistance would be great. Thanks.

 

[house70]

there are a bunch of wild quick fixes out there online, including putting the drive in a freezer for some time. IF they work, that should allow you to access and transfer the data until the HDD can be replaced.
I am not endorsing any of these methods, but if you run out of options...
Before you do that, though, you could try to access it via an external dock or enclosure, and also could try to use a Ubuntu laptop (if the filesystem is corrupted, that would give you better options in terms of accessing the data).
Other than that, retrieving the data would probably require a program or sending the HDD to a firm that does that. They can take it apart in case of hardware failure and access the platters directly.
If the data on it was not that important, just replace the HDD.

 

[FreeDataRecovery]

Does the drive show up in Windows Disk Management?