I’m sure when my WD drive was connected to my TV before it was wireless and not via a USB. I’ve now had to move my drive to another room. Is there a way to connect my Samsung smart tv to the drive? This is handy for viewing files/photos etc
What type of drive is it? Model number?
I have a Sony TV and the USB drive connected to that had to be formatted by the TV. It uses a proprietary format and the drive will then only work when connected to the TV until it is re-formatted in one of the standard file formats.
If you’re talking about a NAS drive then it will be connected to your router and is a device on your LAN which the TV, when connected to the network whether wired or wireless, can access. In this case multimedia files are streamed over your network from the NAS.
Glad i don’t own a Sony ! 
… usually formatting a USB hdd via the TV is only required if you’re using the Recording Feature on the TV. For “Media Playback” you shouldn’t have to do that.
My Panasonic 4K UHD TV plays everything (MKV/MP4/4K/AVC/HEVC) from USB drives formatted NTFS and exFAT. It can also Stream media from my WD My Cloud either wirelessly or wired.
I asked a friend the other day who owns a Samsung (as the OP does) if it plays everything for NTFS/exFAT formatted USB drives … he said it does, no problems 
Friends TV is also a 4K UHD TV
To answer the OP’s question … “Is there a way to connect my Samsung smart tv to the drive?”
Sure, go into the TV’s Network Settings and confgure the WiFi / Wired Settings to connect to your LAN. Any devices (My Clouds) on your LAN will/should then be seen on your TV.
Yes exactly the same with the Sony - my bad for not mentioning that most obvious way to use a USB device directly connected.
I’m struggling to think of a scenario which explains what the OP said, “WD drive was connected to my TV before”. If it is in fact a network connected drive then moving the TV to a different place would have no bearing on the drives network name or IP. Move the TV and if it’s wi-fi it will re-connect to the network similarly if ethernet after it’s plugged in to a different network socket. If it was directly connected to the TV then it can simply be plugged in again.
True, but if the OP moved the TV to a different room … the wireless signal could be too weak
I have to use a WiFi Range Extender to get a WiFi signal in my room as the Wireless Modem/Router is located on the other side of the house.
I personally try to avoid using WiFi whenever i can on my devices unless it’s absolutely necessary (even using a Range Extender, the signal is weak) … and use Power Line Ethernet instead which is faster and more reliable.
Indeed which is why I have installed ethernet in my house and only my iphone is connected by wi-fi - but we digress 
