Any ideas regarding data recovery from a drive I can't see to access.

Clicking is defintily not good. Have you tried hooking it up as as secondary drive and try to access the files that way?

If this is an IDE then place it as slave and if it is sata then connect it on SAta port 1 or 2. The intention behind is that i want you to boot up with other HDD and run chkdsk and other system utilities on it.

For data recovery i would recommend you to use "Recover my files" software. Hope this will help you.

Your best bet is to slave this hard disk into your computer or place into a USB enclosure and connect to to your computer.

Try GetDataBack http://www.runtime.org/  Free to try.  If it sees the missing files you pay for full functionality.

Also look at PCInspector http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm and Recuva http://www.recuva.com/

Both are free.

I'd try GetDataBack.  If it sees your files then try the free ones.  If they work you save money.

I agree with nobus. The problem is physical and software level treatment would not help here.
Board exchange could help. See if ebay offers similar HDD for less money.

Thanks for all of your input.  I now have full access to the drive and also have a little more information.  The drive was connected to a laptop and used more or less they way we older folks used to use a floppy disk...day to day data storage.  It belonged to a professor who would scan her students paperwork and store it digitally on a daily basis.  Her laptop took a power hit with the drive connected and thats when the problem started.  She cant afford to send it it and have it salvaged so Im told I now have free reign.  Any other or updated ideas given this new information.  If I can retrieve this data for her it would probably lead to a big boost in business for me.  She is a PhD. professor at a local college and her recommendation would mean a lot to me!!  Thanks everyone!

Power hit means bad disk board. Find out the model of the drive inside of enclosure and get similar drive so you could change the board and get the data off the drive.

post disk model and firmware, then we can look

Drive is a Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 750GB.  WD P/N: WD2500MLRC-00.  
I do not know the firware version but I would assume it is the original version shipped with this drive.  I will call their tech support and see if I can find out!

no no you have to look everywher - it is printed somewhere...

Nobus...I cant seem to find it anywhere.  There are a few extra letters/numbers after the model and serial numbers but they don't seem to match the format of the firmware versions available for download from the WD website.  I hate to crack the case because, as it stands right now, I can get the drive replaced under warranty.

i found this article about it : http://www.harddrive-repair.com/western-digital.html
i hope it helps you to identify it

Thanks, Nobus, found some helpful info there.  From reading that and more at this site:
http://www.datacent.com/datarecovery/hdd/western_digital/Passport
I'm starting to think it is a damaged or crashed head issue.  As the professor has already written off the drive and begun the painstaking task of recreating all of her data, I may use this as a learning experience.  I'll think about it over the weekend and check prices and availability of parts.

ok - take your time, and post results

Sorry for the delay.  As mentioned the drive is external, so was easy to connect to another system but none recognized it.  The problem is definitely physical.  Because of power surge, you want to think PCB.  But from the clicking sound I hear, its my understanding that it is likely a problem with the drive head.  I guess I will never know for sure.  I'm going to replace the drive under warranty.  Thanks to everyone for your input.

Thanks so much for your input!

did you look for a separate logic board ??

i was hoping to find one someplace like ebay selling for parts.  Its my understanding that you have to have an exact match with exact same bios version and even then its possible it will not work.  I didnt want to buy a new drive and tear it apart just to try this.  Its under warranty for another year or so. So maybe I just stick it in a cabinet for a while and see if one shows up on ebay.

you are right about that, if you don't find the board (and normal cost is nearly as much as a drive) you have to cannibalise a drive...
but sometimes you get lucky..