Wd Hard Drive No Longer Recognized

I have a WD "My Book" external hard drive that is almost completely full of data. I have had the drive for some time and have always taken great care to eject the drive when it is no longer in use. It has always worked just fine until this week when I tried to access the drive, it no longer appears in "My Computer." The drive does appear in "Control Panel" under my devices. The device seems to spin and power-up (with a little clicking) and the light turns blue, just as it always has. I have tried some of the suggestions mentioned in forums with no luck.
I have been using the device via ethernet/USB on a Dell with Windows Vista. I have also tried using the device with my HP Envy laptop with Windows 7. It no longer is recognized on either.
When I view the properties of the device, it says it's working properly.
I tried the troubleshooting option and nothing appears under the troubleshooting report.
I have tried making sure the power source is an outlet with no other devices.
I ran Microsoft "Fixit" which produced a "no problems need attention."
I also noticed in some of the forums it recommends checking under disk management. I do not see the device listed under disk management, however, I am a complete novice and am not sure what I am looking for. I hope someone can help since I have years of data on the device

 

Thanks for the link, however, I have already exhausted almost every single one of the steps from that troubleshooting page. I was holding out hope someone had a "hail mary" solution to avoid the dreaded data recovery process of the entire drive.

 

Just to add a bit more to my original post, the device does appear to power up as usual after the initial clicking (which stops). Short of finding a solution to access the drive, I would also accept information on how I can recover the data. Is it possible for me to use at-home data recovery programs?

 

I ran the diagnostic test above on the device and received a message that says "Test found bad sectors that may be repairable." There is an option to "repair." So the question I have now is, do I try the repair or would that ruin any chances of a professional recovering the data?

 

I have greatly appreciated your help. I have one last question for you. Do you have a recommendation for online data storage? I am not opposed to paying for the service to insure I no longer have to deal with data loss.

 

Is the drive working? I had a similar problem and when I took it apart the drive had slipped off the connecting pins. Pushed it back on and was fixed.
If you haven't done it already give it a try.

 

I will definitely give it a try!