Passport recognized but not accessable

I have two passports, a 1T and a 2T My Passport Essential SE, and both now have the same problem.  My Dell desktop computer recognizes them when I connect them (I hear that reassuring “bloop”) and “device manager” says they’re there and working properly.   But I can’t access them via Windows Explorer.  When I select “computer” they simply don’t show up.  In addidtion, neither drive manager nor WD Drive Utilities sees them.   Previously when this happened I could connect them to my laptop which did recognize and allow access and then, when I plugged them back into my computer they worked fine … for a while.  And then I’d have to repeat the process.  But now that doesn’t help either since my laptop now shows the same symptoms … recognizes the drives but they simply don’t show up Windows Explorer.

I’m hoping for a solution that doesn’t involve formatting, etc. since I have some files and data there that I don’t want to lose.

I’m running Windows 7.

Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated.

Hello, avoid using USB extension cables or USB hubs, you can also check on the disk management window to see if they are recognized there. Check the link below for steps to access disk management.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1284/session/L3RpbWUvMTM0OTQ3MjEzNi9zaWQvSnAxemctN2w%3D

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Thank you for the suggestion.  However, it turned out to be a defective cable for one of the drives.  Since they are showing identical symptons, I’m hopeful that’s the answer for the other drive as well.  But I must say it is very odd for two separate cables for two WD drives to go bad at about the same time.  Nevertheless, using a new cable for the one seems to have sovled the problem. 

Thanks again.