recover data from a hd

[Borislav Petkov <petkov@uni-muenster.de>]

 Hi there,

 my hd died this morning and I know it is too late and I don't have a
 backup but is there a way to do a raw read and gather all the
 information that can be read? One thing might be kind of a problem, however, 
 since the hd is damaged at its very beginning and attempting to mount it gives
 I/O error on sector 0 and the consecutive ones. So, is there a way to jump 
 after those erroneous sectors and read what's left. Any pointers would be 
 greatly appreciated, thanks!

 P.S. I'm off to buy a new hd. Any particular brands I should keep away
 from?

 Regards,
 Boris.