I have a Western Digital external HD...500 gb.

Suddenly it stopped powering on...I've tried every outlet in the house, and nothing.

The data on the hd is more sentimental then anything...photos and whatnot.

I was told that the cheapest solution to retrieve that data is to open up the actual casing of the unit to retrieve the actual hard drive. Since its most likely the hd housing that has gone bad and is failing to power up, my memory should still be safe on the internal hd.

Does this make sense?
Anyone have experience with this type of issue?