Error code 1000-0146 and error code 0F00:0244

I got the dreaded blue screen today.  Problem: unmountable_boot_volume   After running diagnostics as directed by the support site, I received the aforementioned error codes.  So do I need a new hard drive, or what?  If so, any luck with recovery of information off of a hard drive.  (Save the "you should have backed up speeches"! ....Duh...now I have kicked myself enough already!)  I heard that you could buy a relatively inexpensive SATA 2.5 external something or other... and put your faulty drive into it and then try to recover information.  What gives...  I could really use my pictures and my i-Tunes library back!

thanks,

Jingall