External HDD question

I've got an old laptop HDD that I think might be dead. Made clicking noises, so I switched HDDs, then the laptop itself dies a few months later. Assuming the first HDD had hardware problems, is it possible to attempt data recovery using an external enclosure, like a USB one? Do they show up as regular USB drives, or as a HDD?

Oh, and the HDD was running Linux - forgot whether it was Reiser or ext3.

If an enclosure wont work, what would you recommend for data recovery? It's a Seagate 40GB ST94811A 2.5"

An enclosure won't buy you anything plugging it directly into a desktop system would. What you'd need for either is a (3.5" IDE + molex power) --> (2.5" integrated data/power) cable converter. converter

Just use it however you want, USB devices are USB devices (or SCSI if you're in *nix w/ USB storage) and see if you can read the drive. A freesbie livecd would work, USB storage is supported, just plug it in before you boot for maximum ease.

OP here. btw, I don't have a desktop right now, just another laptop. But I could get access to a friend's desktop if I needed to. So would a 2.5" to 3.5" converter in a desktop have a better chance of recovery than a USB enclsure? Are the regular tools like fsck or raw data dumps usable on a USB drive?

The physical connection should have no impact on data recovery as long as it is not faulty.