My HD just decided to stop working, so I'll be away for a few days until I can raise it from the dead or buy a new one.

I wish you luck, mate. I know how nasty that sort of thing can be. :)

from personal experience, not all HDD's are dead when they seemt hat they are. if you are able to put that drive into another machine you still might be able to pull data off of it (if you install it as a slave, post here if you have questions on how to do that).

My recent laptop issues made my think my drive was dead but it turned out it was really teh laptop but not the drive (as the drive booted up in another machine), so dont rule it out unless the thing has been charred by fire, water damage or a rogue mage.