EXT. HD no longer readable

[talkindrum]

i have had this WD "my book" ext. HD for about a year without a problem
Today after restarting the computer i got a notice, instead of the HD icon
on screen i got a box that said "the disk you inserted is not readable by this
computer" below this was 3 options ... initialize, ignore, eject"
i was afraid that initialize would erase or reformat the drive so i pressed
eject, ive tried many times but still the same thing.
has my ext. HD died? should i click initialize? all my backup data &
time machine, music,etc... is on this drive, i dont know what to do.
can anyone help? Thanks,

 

[DewGuy1999]

Initialize = Erase! Only choose initialize if you want to erase everything and start over. Have you tried running Disk Utility's Repair Disk on it?

 

[talkindrum]

Initialize = Erase! Only choose initialize if you want to erase everything and start over. Have you tried running Disk Utility's Repair Disk on it?

no i have not, but how can i run the utility if the drive wont launch?
is there a way to get the data off this external drive if it is still there?
how ?

 

[DewGuy1999]

Sometimes Disk Utility will recognize a drive that the system doesn't. As far as getting data off of it, a data rescue program or service might be able to read it. I've never used either so don't have an experience with them. Maybe another computer Mac or PC (PC with the necessary software to read a Mac drive) might be able to read it.