Win7 cannot access my WD 1.5T external HD no matter what i try

[yawhide]

Hello,

So i dropped my Western Digital external hard drive (3.5'', 1.5T) a few days ago (way past the warranty) and it opened up (the base fell off) so I just clicked the base back in. The usb 2.0 connector is warped but when i connected the external to my comp, everything worked fine. So a couple days after that I wiggled the part that connects the USB cable to the external and right after that point, I have been getting really weird problems with my external.

Here is what happens:

1) whenever i open 'my computer' when the external is plugged in, it takes FOREVER for my computer to respond (there is this green bar that fills up near the address bar). If i try to right click my external, the window automatically freezes and i waited for an hour and still doesn't respond. So i am forced to end task it. If my external is no plugged in, 'my comp' works fine.

2) if i wait long enough for my computer to load completely (takes about an hour) without touching anything, and i try to access my external in ANY way (through browsing for a file through my antivirus, or any software, the software will 100% become unresponsive (says 'not responding' and if i click the window, it goes all while).)

3) sometimes when i try to access my external i get the error "windows cannot access this ________(something, can't remember)'. This rarely happens, and I don't know how to get win7 to give me this error.

4) i tried to scan my external with bitdefender but when i tried to select my external, the window went unresponsive. I waited fora longtime....

5) i tried to get a program called "r-studio" but right when i plugged my external in my comp (after i opened r-studio), r-studio becomes unresponsive...

6) when i plug in my external, instead of saying "600GB free out of 1.3t' and the name i called it, it says "local disk f:\"...when i click it, it asks if i want to format it which i obviously don't want

7) i tried to rename the drive letter with disk management, but that didn't' change anything (changed from H:\ to F:\).

8) whenever i have my external plugged into my comp, my computer windows (windows explorer for example) doesn't refresh when i move/delete a file. I have to manually press f5 to see the changes. Does this mean i have a virus on my external or something??

9) in disk management, the external is shown as "raw". it never use to i think.

I have no reinstalled windows

I have no idea what is going on.
I scanned my comp 2 times with bitdefender. I think this is a virus but I have no clue.


any help would be awesome.

thanks!


edit: i am trying testdisk right now and its taking so long to recognize my external, still just saying "still waiting"...

 

[zigzag3143]

Um, It is probably the drive. If there is nothing "life and death critical" on it, chalk it up to experience. If there is, you do have a back up right?

Drive recover can be quite expensive.

 

[yawhide]

well my external is my backup haha. I just don't understand how this happened...you think if i open it up somehow (no idea how) and just see if the wires not connected properly or something???

well the testdisk finish, and i followed the steps from this guide
http://www.sevenforums.com/software/190430-regain-lost-drive-using-test-disk-illustrated-guide.html

then i restarted, now my external won't appear in my computer....

 

[bobkn]

A couple of years ago, I dropped an external enclosure that had a WD 750GB drive in it. The drive was spinning at the time.

The drop was less than half a meter (20"). There was no visible damage to the enclosure. The drive was dead, though. I was never able to get Windows to mount it again.

Drives will probably take more mechanical shock if the heads are parked, but you may have exceeded that.

It may be worthwhile checking to see whether an internal connector has become loose, but I'd bet that the HD itself is toast.

Sorry.