Mac, er, not exactly.
Actually, there was a bit of dust on the platter but I blew it off!
As I said I would "quite" like to get the data off at low cost, but it's not mission critical so it's as much a learning exercise as anything else.
CJ. TVM for that kind offer. I think the interface boards are specific to the HDD. I found a Quantum 540 locally for £6 but the interface card is quite different so I suspect that the smaller ones will also be different. Actually, I think this drive is knackered as well. It won't hold a partition after using fdisk.
ORAC that is a good offer. I'll not trouble you just yet until I've researched more locally and then I'll find one in the LA area (that is a big place!) if I want to take you up on the offer.
I'll always remember my first arrival in LA as pax. It was night and the Captain announced that we were now over the outer reaches of the City and we could see the lights stretching forward as far as the eye could see.
With no major delays, we landed 40 minutes later!