Thanks so much for trying to help. It isn't under warranty I'm afraid and it does seem as though it is broken - the solution you have suggested below is, I am afraid, far beyond this old and decrepid brain but thanks, nonetheless, for trying to help me. Pat
KevinAr18 said:
Oh, just realize you said external hard drive... In that case, seems like it's broken.
If it's under warranty, get it fixed. If it's not under warranty, there is a good chance the hard drive is still good and it's just a problem with the enclosure. You could take the hard drive out of the enclosure and put it into a different hard drive enclosure (after testing to make sure the hard drive is still good by putting it inside a computer, of course).