Thanks for the tip. I tried a piece of software last week - can't remember the name - but I just heard the disk clicking repeatedly while the software was trying to access the disk - it didn't get anywhere, so I didn't think a pure software solution would work. But I will take a look at Spinrite - I hadn't heard of it. Maybe it works better than the one I tried already, although I'm skeptical. I have a hunch that what I really need is some kind of hardware solution along the lines of whatever they use at these commercial services for copying a failed disk. But I'm expecting such a device to cost an arm and a leg.
