If you have access two another computer, I would recommend downloading Knoppix, and booting that. If it sees the HDD, you can use a windows share to transfer the files over to. Use smb://ipaddress/foldername on the laptop running Knoppix, ip address being the other computer, and the foldername being the name of the shared folder.
Another option would be to buy an external laptop hard drive enclousure, pop out your laptop hard drive, try putting that in the enclousure, and use another computer to try to pull the data off from.
If both of those aren't options, give the freezer trick a try. take the hard drive out first though, leave it in for an hour or so. try putting it back in the lappy.