Solution to unrecognized portable hard drive

We had a WD 250 GB hard drive that was not recognized by the computer. Tried everything, different cords, different computers, no success. There wasn't an obvious way to open the enclosure without fear of damage so didn't pursue that. So we took it to a computer store as they were going to "recover" the data. It cost $70.00. The tech used a flat knife to pop open the case. (Actually found on the internet how to do that. I guess I wouldn't worry about hurting the plastic because you are going to replace that.)

We were told that the problem with the hard drive was the connection at the top, it was bad. I suspect that the tech opened the case, disconnected the USB portion and reconnected it to something similar to an enclosure. Then he connected it to a computer and transferred the files over to a new external hard drive that we had also purchased. $100.00. So it was a pretty expensive fix, when all I needed was a flat knife and an enclosure. By the way, learned about enclosures on this forum and actually already had one. I believe I paid $5 for it, so it would have been a pretty cheap fix.

So when we got the broken hard drive home, I slipped it into an enclosure and there were all of the files.

I hope this helps out some people. Suggestion, learn about enclosures or sleeves, maybe even have one on hand. Also, the WD website did not suggest that the USB connection could go bad and it was possible to get to your files by doing the above.