Broken harddisk; how can I try to get files off of it?

Hi, I've got a broken harddrive sitting in my notebook computer next to me here. I know that the chances of getting anything off of it at this point are slim to none, but there are a few files I didn't back up recently that I would really like to get off of it, if it is at all possible.

I am very new to KNOPPIX, and Linux in general. A friend of mine gave me a copy a while back, and it almost succeeded in saving some files from my harddisk last time it died (unfortunately it wouldn't recognize the USB Zip Drive for some reason, probably my fault. It was an older version). So when I called him up this time, he told me to download the newest version of KNOPPIX and try again.

I downloaded KNOPPIX 5.0.1, and it does work on the computer with the broken harddrive (it booted fine, I can open programs and stuff). However, the whole time it is booting up, the harddrive is clicking away (harddrives aren't supposed to do that I understand :(). When it is finally done booting, the harddrive is silent, and when I try to mount it:

"Could not mount device.

The reported error was:

Error reading bootsector: Input/output error

Failed startup volume: Input/output error

Couldn't mount device '/dev/hda1': input/output error

Mount failed."

I tried mounting it through the Konsole with "mount /media/hda1", but it gives a similar error.

I know this is almost certainly a waste of time trying to get files off of the thing, but I still want to try. Does anyone have anything I can try? I'd appreciate any help.

You could give testdisk a go. I've not tried it but it looks good. Thoughtfully it's on the knoppix disc.
Do "man testdisk" for some brief notes. Use "locate testdisk" to see where the main docs are. etc.
It will do FAT partitions too. Unsure if it will be happy with dying harddisk. Nothing to lose...
A case of make backups, often. Good luck!

IAMBOB:

If your hard drive is clicking abnormally, you probably have mechanical damage to the drive. It may or may not have harmed the disk surfaces, but it is not a good sign. If you need the data on the drive, you may have to resort to a data recovery service, since nothing you could really do externally would restore the drive to operable condition. Continued operation of the drive in that condition could also have a negative impact on the success of any data recovery, if you choose to go that route. I had a Toshiba drive recently that failed in a similar manner. The drive was replaced by Toshiba under warranty. It would have cost much more than it was worth to recover the data. I had the important stuff backed up and it was just a matter of reinstalling the OS. I have recovered information from drives in the condition you described. It involves swapping parts from another drive that is the same as the broken one. Sometimes it works like a charm. Sometimes it's just a waste of good parts and time.