HD problem: computers don't power up with this HD

[hyderabadi]

I've had this disk for about 4 years now. The computer that this disk was in had a power supply problem--I mean it got fried, I actually saw the fired and smoke. I have since been able to use the other two disks (, memory, and PCI cards) from this computer on other computers but whenever I try to use this particular disk (WD 20GB) in any other computer, the computer won't even power up. I have installed this disk in three different computers, the result is same: computer won't power up. As soon as I disconnect power to the disk (by pulling out the 4-pin power connector), whether or not I disconnect the IDE ribbon cable, the computers come back to life. I have made peace with the fact that this HD has a problem. My questions:

1) can this problem be fixed without spending too much on it?
2) will I be able to somehow retrieve data on it? (If not, do I toss it into garbage...or recyle it somwhere?)

 

[mastertech01]

Sorry to say it but it appears it is toast.Ive lost a SCSI controller and 3 drives once sometime back from nothing more than a very short instantaneous spark from a power short, nothing that left smoke even.

 

[redbeard1]

There are a couple of options. Send it in to a recovery service, but that gets spendy most of the time. The other would be to find a drive that is from the same year and is the same size and swap out the circuit board. If the motor isn't seized or the head isn't stuck, this will generally work, but you never know for sure.