Hard disk failure

[klohnes]

Sorry to be posting my problem on your thread but it sounds like I am having the exact same problem except my passport external hard drive just failed tonight.  The frustrating thing is that it was working perfectly throughout the day today and then when I tried to access a file I had been using on the drive, it said there were no files on the drive.  Thinking I could see things if I disconnected the hard drive and reconnected it (I should have tried to salvage things while at least the computer could acknowledge its presence) I tried to disconnect the drive and then had to shut down the computer to disconnect it since I kept getting the message that the drive was in use (crazy since it said there was nothing on it).  When I reconnected the drive after restarting the computer it did not show up at all (nothing in my computer or in any devices when I searched for it).  I have tried several computers (in the lab where I work) and different USB ports (this is not the first WD my passport to fail on me) but nothing.  When I plug in the device it also turns like it is trying to boot but it makes a wierd clicking noise at the same time and then it just stops and the light stays on but unblinking.  Any suggestions for getting a device like this working again or recovering the data from it (without being able to detect it I can’t seem to get the programs for data recovery to see anything) would be greatly appreciated.