wait. Im an idiot. It is ac powered. got confused with something else. My bad

so it's all working now?

Unfortunately not. I looked up some solutions on youtube and alot said to just take out the battery and shit and unplug the pc (i have a lappy) and restart the computer. I think that solution is mainly for people who have a screwed usb port where as mine is the device itself. Heaps of my friends say i have to format the external for it to work non my pc again so what i plan to do is (hopefully) connect it to my friends computer, copy all the stuff i want on to his pc, format my external, then put it all back on and hopefully it will work on my pc.

What do you reckon?

but why would it work on your friends computer and not yours?

if you haven't formatted there shouldn't have being any issues regarding it, when you do this you'll find that it won't be working.

best bet check for any data recovery guys, generally $60 upwards and they might be able to get all your data back.

If it's a formatting issue you won't be able to get the files off through your mate's PC as it won't be able to read the hard drive either. You should still give it a go though on the chance it isn't a formatting problem.

what nuss said.

on a side note, please ban mclovin kid is a tard.

Have you tried another USB cable?
What noise does the drive make if you put your ear next to the drive when it's plugged in?

Gut feeling says the board on the external USB drive has gone faulty. It's not uncommon for them to go bad. Try pulling out the drive then plugging it into your PC. If it's a 2.5" drive, you can always buy a cheap case for it on eBay.