It seems I have a hardware problem. What does that actually mean?

[Shazzie_23]

I have bought a brand new WD passport external hard drive and it is connected to my laptop via a USB port. But the device is not being picked up. I have followed someone' troubleshooting advice and the answer was that I have a hard drive problem. But what does that actually mean and how do solve this?

 

[jbseven]

Do you mean a hardware problem or a hard drive problem?

Can you detail the steps that you followed?