no spin, chirping noise: it used to be seagate drives were known for stiction (now it could be anyone), where the lubricant on the platters is heated to the point to becoming glue when the drive cools down. when the head lands back on the platter, it plows into the lubricant, the lubricant cools and hardens. the drive from then on makes a chirping noise when the drive motor tries to start spinning the platters but can't. Data recovery shops charge up to $500 for jobs like this.

overheating: this shows by constant steady blinking of the drive led on some mfr of drives such as maxtor. I hear one solution is to have the logic board replaced by a data recovery shop or by the mfr.

drive recognized, no spin, no chirping noise: drive motor dead (unlikely), or one of the power lines is not getting power. Never plug in or unplug a drive with the computer's power on. you can blow the drive and the computer's interface or worse. (+12V yellow if on molex - check the connector). On a molex, You may need to crimp the connector slightly if it is too loose, or loosen it up very slightly if it is too tight - don't do that with the power on or you could blow your power supply! otherwise, make sure the power connector is fully seated, and if it is a molex, that one of the pins is not sticking out (that happens if the catch is bent - not very fixable - just be sure to push the pin in so the drive connects). if it still doesn't work, try a different power connector. still no go? check the connector with a VoltMeter or DMM for proper voltage (don't attempt with SATA power connector - too close together, chance of shorting). still no go? suspect the logic board - take the drive to a data recovery shop. I am not sure what they charge for this, but it's probably <$500.

drive not recognized: logic board is totally blown (static?), or is (more likely) not getting power. Never plug in or unplug a drive with the computer's power on. you can blow the drive and the computer's interface or worse. reseat the connector with the computer's power off! the logic board is driven with +5v power(red) on a molex connector. On a molex, You may need to crimp the connector slightly if it is too loose, or loosen it up very slightly if it is too tight - don't do that with the power on or you could blow your power supply! otherwise, make sure the power connector is fully seated, and if it is a molex, that one of the pins is not sticking out (that happens if the catch is bent - not very fixable - just be sure to push the pin in so the drive connects or use a different connector). if it still doesn't work, try a different power connector. still no go? check the connector with a VoltMeter or DMM for proper voltage (don't attempt with SATA power connector - too close together, chance of shorting). still no go? suspect the logic board - take the drive to a data recovery shop. I don't know what they charge for this, but it's probably <$500.