External hard drive suddenly stopped working

[khchehab]

I recently traveled and took my external hard drive with me, and I was able to use it normally. After I returned, I can't see the hard drive anymore on my PC. I tried plugging it on another PC, changed the cables nothing worked. When I plug the hard drive, I can't see it on My Computer, nor in Disk Management, I can however see it in the "safely remove ..." when I press on it.
What is the problem with my hard drive? And is it fixable without losing data as it is a backup hard drive and contains important files?

 

[digitaldoc]

Sounds like the hard drive did not survive the trip, and will need to be replaced.

Look into if it is still under warranty.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there khchehab,

If it is not showing in Disk Management, you will not be able to retrieve the data with a data recovery tool.
If the data on the drive is really important, I would advise you to contact a data recovery company.
If you need the data but you don't want to use a data recovery company, you can try attaching the drive internally through SATA. You need to take the drive out of the enclosure. Keep in mind that this will void the warranty(if any). Also, the drive shouldn't be hardware encrypted.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD