fzabkar :
The OP's problem appears to be a simple case of stiction. Allow me to explain exactly what a "data recovery professional" does in such a case. The procedure involves using a screwdriver to rotate the platters in their normal direction of motion with one hand, while retracting the heads to their normal parking position, using firm continuous pressure, with the other hand. That's essentially it. For this "data recovery" service, a typical professional will charge you $1000 or more. I can think of only two other professions that charge so much for so little, and they are lawyers and prostitutes. And the reason they get away with it is the secrecy that surrounds the profession, plus the intimidation factor. If you've ever lost a loved one, you'll know that this is the worst time to go shopping for a funeral plot. Similarly, when you've entrusted your entire digital life to your hard drive, and your HD has failed you, then this makes you extremely vulnerable. In a great many cases there will be DIY fixes that will cost you nothing, but there are a great many in the data recovery profession who will attempt to intimidate you by exploiting your fear at this vulnerable time.
For example, the following statement is the most ridiculous that I've seen in a long time:
"Just carrying around a drive and/or touching it can cause damage to the drive".
As for the comment regarding a "new power cable" (AC adapter?), I agree that it would be an unlikely culprit. However, a very common failure mode for switchmode supplies is high ESR capacitors on the secondary. The symptom would be a reduction in the supply voltage under load. Since the HDD sounds like it is executing repetitive "spin buzz", and since each buzz would load the supply, then the observed symptom could be consistent with a bad adapter. The power LED on the enclosure would be derived from the onboard 5V DC-DC converter, so this would not necessarily be affected by a drop in the +12V input. A port powered drive on an overloaded, current limited USB interface exhibits similar symptoms.
As for finding a professional who is skilled in hard drive recovery, these people are few and far between. From what I have seen during the past two years, the only thing you can be sure of when someone claims to be drive recovery professional is that they will charge you money for whatever it is that they do. Most appear to be ex-IT keyboard punchers or PC "technicians" who one day decided that data recovery would be a good earner. The vast majority of these people know absolutely nothing about electronics, have never handled a soldering iron or a multimeter, and wouldn't recognise a capacitor even if it discharged across their testicles. That said, I agree that in many (most?) cases experience trumps intelligence, so if you can find someone who has done the same job many times before, then you should be OK. However, since the profession has no official accreditation, all that it takes for somebody to hang out their shingle as a DR professional is a fancy web site, and perhaps an investment in a tool such as PC3000 or DeepSpar Imager.
To quote Dirty Harry, "are you feeling lucky"?
I started my electronics education several decades ago, eventually earning the highest level of license the FCC had available. That license allows me to have full control of all aspects of a commercial television station, a radar installation, a radio station, or a shipgoing radio system. I can sign the required certification logs to ensure legal operations. I then went on to major in Electrical Engineering. Along the way, I also earned a couple of different amateur radio licenses and became experienced with reception, transmission, building, and tuning radio equipment. During the 1960s, I built and operated my own personal radio teletype station using a terminal unit that I personally built from scratch using descrete components.
I started my education in using various meters and test equipment also in the mid 1960s. My expeience using electrical and electronic test equipment includes VTVMs which were replaced by various types of VOM's over the years. I soldered my first connection in 1957 while constructiong a radio tranmitter under the guidance of a certified electronics instructor. My first class in soldering occurred with a gas fired iron since electrically operated ones where not all that economical at that time.
I bought my first personal computer in the mid 1980s after having already been a computer professional for over 10 years at that point. I have been the technical manager of more than one computer department and have owned my own personal computer support company for many years. In addition to doing hands on hardware and software work myself, I have taught computers at the college level.
In short, I have several decades of electronics, electrical and computer training and experience. While I agree that everyone seems to think that they can do what I do, most really can't. However, you seem to think that because so many people do not recognize their limits that I have no knowledge of this subject.
The reason why I wrote that about carrying around or touching the drive is related to static electricity. Perhaps you studied ESD as part of your Electrical Engineering major, as I did. Or perhaps you have studied it during your decades of electronics work, as I also have. If so, you would know, as I do, that it is not just a theoretical threat, it is a practical one. In one case that I am personally familiar with, a high percentage of critical electronic components were testing as bad from the assembly line. The cause turned out to be that the stools the line workers were sitting on insulated them and their movement created enough static to damage the parts as they were worked on. The solution was anti-static straps.
It was obvious from the original post that the OP was not knowledgeable about such things so I issued the warning. I suggest that until you know more about these subjects, that you refrane from criticizing those who do know about these subjects. One does not even need to understand Ohm's Law to diagnose and fix most problems since almost no repairs are done to individual components in a modern personal computer.
The statement that you so strongly criticized is right on target to tell someone who thinks that hitting a hard drive is part of the maintenance process. That person would also not understand ESD, what damage it can do, and how to protect against the problem. Therefore, my warning was totally appropriate.
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