If the crash was simply Windows crashing and not booting, you should be able to get the data off. If the problem is that the drive makes a clicking sound and nothing happens, you could be looking at the $2K solution.
If the issue is the first, you can put the drive in another computer as a second computer. If you are not comfortable in doing that, I highly recommend this little device:
Amazon.com: Coolmax 15438 CD-350-COMBO Multifunctional Converter for 2.5/3.5/5.25 IDE/SATA Device: Electronics
It allows you to hook up a regular disk drive and plug it into your USB port and it will act like a thumb drive. Basically it is the electronics that are in those large external drives (without the case).