Portable hard drive problem

[Lochie7520]

I have a problem with my portable hard drive and i was wondering how to fix it the problem is whenever i plug it into my laptop or computer it comes up with you need to format it but whenever i go to format it, it doesnt work please help

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to the TH Community, @Lochie7520!

This sounds pretty unfortunate! I'd recommend you try using a different USB cable and a different USB port on your computer/laptop. Does this happen on both the PC and the notebook? If the issue is present on both systems, you should definitely run its manufacturer's diagnostic utility or a third-party alternative to determine the health and SMART status of the portable drive. Keep in mind that if you format it, you will lose the data on it.
Can you please share a screenshot of your Disk Management and how the external appears there?

Keep me posted with the SMART attribute results & troubleshooting!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Hlsgsz]

Run crystaldiskinfo and post a picture of the results.