External Harddrive Problems

[ink-alchemy]

Hey all,

I'm having problems with my external harddrive. Yesterday, after I turned my computer back on and plugged in my external harddrive, I got a message which said the "USB Device failed to install properly". I have not had problems with the external harddrive in the past, except for sometimes I was not able to eject it properly. When I would click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon and go through that whole deal, I would get a message saying "Cannot Remove General Volume" or something similar. I began to physically shut down my computer before removing the external harddrive when I got this message to prevent problems from occuring, but I guess it didn't help...

Can anyone give me advice. Literly EVERYTHING I own is on that external. I have Windows XP and I've only owned this external for 8 months or so.

[patio]

Well shutthing down in that manner and or unplugging that device your data may be toast...

Disconnect it completely.
Do a few cold boots.
With the power off connect the drive.
Re-boot and see what happens.

If you are lucky it might show up intact.