Pc can't access WD 1021 External 2tb HD

This just started last night when I got off work. My ext. hdd cannot be accessed at all. It shows up in my device manager, and can be detected as a drive by any drive detecting app, but I cannot access it, it doesn't show up appear in my list of drives availible when I go into my computer, and I cannot see it from the disk manager either. I tried using fixmbr, I tried using a reformat tool that could see it, but then said it wasn't big enough to format.

pc

xp-sp3

intel core 2 duo e6550 2.33ghz

AsusTek P5K-E (American Megatrends inc.)

4gb of ddr2

geforce 9500 gt vid card

The ext hdd is a WD Elements 2tb drive, WD 1021

I don't have the system disc anymore, it was lost in a previous move. And if there are any possible fixes or ways to save the data off of the ext hdd I would love it because I got about 1.5tb of data on it that would be a pain to replace.

Update1: I've uninstalled it's drivers, and the hooked it back up and shows that it connects but then the same deal, I can see it in device mananager, and any 3rd party device detector, but not in disk management. I've hooked it up to a second pc with the same results, and tried it in my wd media player(there are media files on it), on the laptop it makes the noise of it being detected but I can't access it. I can see it in the hardware section under devices and printers(the laptop has win7 on it) when I look at the properties it only lists the category and the model as ext hdd 1021. model no. is unavailible, and if I look at the properties, the device status says "the device is working properly".

update 2: I ran a wd diagnostic test i got from their website. it failed out saying "status code = 05 (failed electrical test element), failure checkpoint = 99(unknown test)

tried again and got this. status code = 07 (failed read test) , failure checkpoint = 97(unknown test)

Is the drive dead, or can i rip it out and maybe hook it direction up to the pc? Any help please?

update 2: Solved - wish I had better news, but sadly the drive is no more. And since I was out of warranty, not much could be done from wd's end either. I pulled it out of the case and hooked it directly up to the pc, and got the same issues, so it was definitely the drive going bad. Thankfully, I had an unopened 2tb sata drive, so I cracked open th ext case and swapped out the now dead drive for a working one and formatted it. So though I may be down 1.5tb in data I had saved on the drive, I have space to re-aquire it.