Things to do when your hard disk crashed

2 days ago, my sis' computer crashed and wouldn't boot into windows no matter what. I tried using safe mode to get inside and it failed too. I thought maybe some virus got inside so I get my windows xp installation disc to reinstall the OS (mind you, not reformat the whole drive).
After a while, the setup stopped and inform me that the hard drive had errors. Guess it's about time the hard drive died anyway, since it has been in our service for 10 years. But what about the precious files inside? photos, songs, videos? can't i retrieve them? Yes, you can, provided that the files are not located in your damaged sector.
Here are the steps to get back your files:

1. Get a external hard disk drive or pendrive to store your files
2. Go to ubuntu, download the latest image file and burn it (using your families' or friends' computer)
3. Once finished, insert it to your crashed hard disk computer's dvd/cd-drive.
4. Set the boot priority to cd-rom in BIOS.
5. When you are inside ubuntu, copy all your important files to your other drive.
6. Reboot and you are done!

This is how I get back my sis files the cheap way. If you have any other ideas or recommendation, please leave your comments.
If your computer is really really old, you can check out my Hardware Rig: November PC Configuration for making your own new computer.