Friend of mine buggered up her laptop drive - when her kids were playing with strong magnets around it! Was about to lose 4 yrs of kids photos (some from birth). Not backed anything up (even though I set her up a network drive and automated backup schedule - although this relied on them switching the network drive on!).
I tried everything. 2 partitions, one non readable - the other (Dell rescue) was readable.
Eventually sent it off to Fields Data Recovery. Very expensive, slow and shite communication - but eventually got back the drive (which I think will be recoverable) - and 12 DVDs full of photos. Worth it from my friends perspective. I'm not recommending Fields- (google them) - but had to be done in my friends case.
I've also been playing around with http://www.mypcbackup.com - really stupid customer support - but hopefully I can get away without using them. Trialled it for a few weeks - no bought in (for my stupid friend who still isn't switching on the network drive). Use the trial, but wait for the 70% discount email. Unlimited backup for about £3 per month...