Am I able to still get files/data from a corrupt external hard drive I haven't turned on for 2 years?

[wildtree]

I lost data a couple of years ago from an external hard drive I had. I didn't end up doing anything about it at the time and have only just found it again.

Am I able to still access files (mostly illustrator and adobe) even though it hasn't been turned on for ages and if so how would I go about doing this?

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

If your PC doesn't recognise the drive you won't be able to recover any data from it. So plug it in and see if it's recognised.

I have to say it's not very wise to store important data on a single drive. Two drives at least should be used so you have a backup, because all hard drives fail sooner or later, as sure as night follows day. It's not a case of "if" it fails, it's a case of "when".