External hard drive not being recognised. Any pro tips?

[RainbowJack]

My laptop and TV aren't recognising my external hard drive.

It shows a blue light when plugged in and I can feel it whirring when I hold it so it's working but not connecting.

Any ideas how I can fix it or should I put it out of its misery?

[GavelRavel]

Is it old? Has it ever worked? You probably need to update the drivers
Try googling "drivers for make and model.of hard drive"

[RainbowJack]

Hey Gavel. How can I update it if my laptop wont recognise it?

It might be 2 years old-ish. My uncle gave it to me. Yes, it worked until 2 days ago.

[GavelRavel]

Hi Jack sorry should have been clearer, you install the firmware driver on the laptop itself so that it will recognise various connected devices like the hat drive. So you could try making sure you have the latest one installed on your laptop or update it, reboot everything and see if it's recognised.

If that still doesn't work it could be the connector on the ext hard drive is damaged which would be fairly terminal i think. Worth updating the device drivers on the laptop for you external drive first though. They are normally available on the website for the company who makes the hard drive.

[CruelAndUnusualParenting]

I wouldn't expect messing with firmware to help. If it was working, then the firmware is unlikely to be the problem. As the disk seems to be spinning, it may well be OK. First thing to try is a different cable.

How confident are you with hardware? If a different cable doesn't help, I could suggest swapping the disk into a new enclosure.