WD Elements 2TB External hard drive BLINKING LIGHT Problem

After less than a year with my 2 TB WD external drive with the same P/N number, I too get a blinkiing LED light and my Windows 7 is unable to recognize the disk. There seems to be some spinning of the HD when it is plugged in, but then it slows down to silence… Now only the LED is blinking. Unacceptable :(  It was working for a few months without a problem :(. Any suggestions or have we screwed? What does the rapidly blinking LED light mean?