Recover files from broken external hard drive

What sort of funny noise? Generally speaking if a hard drive is making any clicking or grinding noises, then it's likely the drive parts need replacing. That unfortunately tends to mean a clean-room environment where the platters are moved to an identical but different drive. This I'm afraid is big bucks and only a handful of people in the country are equipped to do it (not me). If it's a clicky sound when you turn it one, then the drive heads are stuck. If you're incredibly lucky you might get it working if you try using it at a different angle (on it's side, upright, upside-down, etc). Some anecdotal suggestions include popping it in a zip-bag and chucking it in the fridge for 1/2 an hour. If you can get it to work (even partially) after all that, let me know and I'll see what I can do but by then you might be able to get what you need off it yourself.