Is my USB external HD dead?

None of my PCs will allow me to access a Maxtor 3000LS external HD (USB), although the Device Manager says the thing is there when I check the USB controllers. If I try to unplug it, I get the usual "don't do that" from the PC. I have two machines–one's a Win2K machine, and one runs ME. Both Device Managers recognize that I have the drive plugged in, but I can't see it in Windows Explorer on either one. I even plugged it into a notebook that has XP on it–same thing. Just what's going on here? Am I fated to get a new external HD, and spend even more to retrieve the data on the drive if it is indeed dead? Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1 Scan saved at 8:11:09 PM, on 4/14/2006 Platform: Windows 2000 SP4 (WinNT 5.00.2195) MSIE: Internet Explorer v5.00 SP1 (5.00.2920.0000) –Tom vonHatten