Western Digital My Book Essential 2TB not showing up in Disk Management (Can't Access Drive) [ Edited ]

[Stateofreality]

I have had this drive for about 5 months now, from the very beginning it had errors such as it not letting me update the firmware and such because of errors. Just recently it stopped being recognized by the "Disk Management" or in "My Computer" even though it shows up in my Device Manager as working perfectly well. I have had issues with my computer not recognizing the drive before but usually a simple restart suffices, this time though I have tried every troubleshoot option I have found on the web that I am able to do, but so far nothing has worked. The only thing I haven't attempted would be getting a new USB cord for it, that is what I'm about to try, I assume it won't work though. I even reformatted my computer to try to get this thing to work since it has literally all my data on it... 

Some more things I have noticed: 
When I try to shut down my computer or turn it on with the drive plugged in it will just stop until I either force shut it down or unplug the device.
After reformatting when I go to Disk Management I started to get this error "Request could not be performed because of an I/O device error" when I go to Disk Management.
The drive is not dead it is spinning and vibrating. 
When I first plug in the drive I start hearing a clicking noise from within the drive that I don't remember hearing before. 

A few things I have tried:

I have tried all the USB ports on my computer 2.0 and 3.0. I have tried using the drive on other computers with the exact same results. 
I have tried plugging the cord into the wall directly instead of from a surge protector.

I have restarted/reformatted my computer and tried it on different PC's with the same results.

There are a lot of other things I have tried but I can't remember them all... but yeah nothing has worked, so far reformatting has given me the best results with the "Request could not be performed because of an I/O device error" when I go to Disk Management.". 

My computer specs: 

System Specs:

Processor - Intel Core i7 CPU 950 @ 3.20 GHz 

RAM - 6.00 GB
Video Card - Nvidia GTX 460 
System Type - Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Power Supply - 1000 Watt

Additional Details:

Model Number: WDBACW0020HBK-NESN

If anyone has any input/solutions I would appreciate it, I would like to keep the data on the drive but if all else fails, avoiding spending another $200 would be nice too... Thanks in advanced! 

[Awopero]

open up the cmd prompt

I haven't had this happen with Win 7 so I'm not sure about that one

older version of windows select RUN from start menu and type cmd

from there type "chkdsk X: /f" no quotes and replace X with whatever drive it is.

It should perform a scan and once complete should work just like new!

[ThePizzaMatrix]

A clicking sound is never a good sign, it means the drive is stuck or not getting enough power, and I/O error is the physical interface, that should be fixed with changing the cable unless the problem is the USB port itself.

[Stateofreality]

@Awopero:I can't replace X with the drive letter because it doesn't show up in disk management therefore doesn't have a drive letter and I can't asign it one. Here I'll show you what it looks like in Drive Management, My Computer, and the Device Manager.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/5f7RD.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/L9Hol.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/TW79i.png[/IMG]

@ThePizzaMatrix: I'm actually not hearing the clicking anymore now, so that is probably a good sign... It's just spinning and vibrating now normally from what I can tell. If it is a power cable or usb cable problem I will attempt different cords today, I have a friend that can provide me with them. I don't think there is any way it could be the USB port considering I have tried all of the ones on my computer + the ones on the 2 other computers in my house with similair results. It is currently plugged into a 3.0 USB port.

[ThePizzaMatrix]

I'm sorry I was not specific, I meant the USB port on the MyBook itself and/or the bridge controller in between the case and the physical mechanical drive inside.

[Stateofreality]

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ThePizzaMatrix wrote:

I'm sorry I was not specific, I meant the USB port on the MyBook itself and/or the bridge controller in between the case and the physical mechanical drive inside.

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Ah yeah I wouldn't know how to troubleshoot that, I guess that would mean I would need to replace the drive... It wasn't doing the I/O thing until recently though so I'm not sure.. I guess I'll just try a few more things then give up on it, would there be any easy way to get the information off of it since the drive its self is working or would it be a lost cause?

[ThePizzaMatrix]

The drive itself will be hardware-encrypted, so unless you have contacts with a data recovery specialist then it's sadly a lost cause....

[Stateofreality]

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ThePizzaMatrix wrote:

The drive itself will be hardware-encrypted, so unless you have contacts with a data recovery specialist then it's sadly a lost cause....

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Yeah I figured that would the the case, the stuff on it isn't extremely important and I can get it back it will just take a lot of downloading...  Oh well I guess I'll try a few more things and then give in and buy a new one. Thanks for the help!