What is the quickest and easiest way to recover data from a hard drive?

My friend has a Windows XP desktop system that contains important data. He says that when he turns on the computer, the lights on the front panel light up and he can hear the fan spin for a moment and then all goes dead. His most urgent problem is the data on his hard drive, which is not backed up. The data is located in several folders on the drive. Can someone list the major steps in the process of trying to recover the data?What is the quickest and easiest way to recover data from a hard drive?
Option 1:

Download Linux Mint and burn it to a CD.

Boot from the CD. Choose to run the Live environment.

Browse the HDD and copy the files to a USB drive or network share



Option 2:

Take the Hard drive out of his computer and plug it into another computer.

Browse the HDD and copy the files.What is the quickest and easiest way to recover data from a hard drive?
Most likely, his power supply is dead. Easiest way to "recover" the data would be to leave it right where it is, and repair the system it is stored on. Try replacing the power supply.