My WD External Hard Drive froze and is now unreadable

[Arjo Dc]

I was saving some files when my hard drive and computer suddenly froze. After rebooting not only was my external drive unreadable but it was also hindering some of my computer's activities until I unplug it. Applications and web pages would not properly load until I unplug it. How do I solve this?

 

[i7Baby]

Can you take the drive out of the case and plug it into the PC internally?

 

[Arjo Dc]

I'm not exactly savvy with computers so I'd rather not. I also forgot to mention that some weird noises are now coming from my drive. Is it possible for something to get damaged inside? I mean, I was only saving some files.

 

[i7Baby]

It shouldn't be making 'weird noises'. Maybe it seized up and caused the problem. If so, it'll be unusable.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, Arjo Dc!

I'm very sorry to hear about your issue with the WD external. Can you tell me the model of that hard drive?
I'd also suggest to try the drive on a different computer and using a different USB cable.
You should also test it using WD's Data LifeGuard diagnostics tool:
http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=0hd3OU

However, I wouldn't recommend taking the drive out of the enclosure. We have external HDD series that incorporate hardware encryption.
Taking the drive out would not only void the warranty but it will make the data on the drive inaccessible.

Keep me posted with the test results and swapping cables!
SuperSoph_WD