The part where the usb cable connects to hard drive is brocken. Can I buy a new part or can I save the data on my hard drive tihout using the usb?

External hard drives are plug-and-play devices used to store music, video and data files.

Once the drive is connected, the computer checks its systems for the appropriate drivers, loads them, and the external drive is ready to use. If the computer does not recognize the external drive, plug it into another computer to ensure the drive is not corrupted. If the drive is good, a few simple steps should help re-enable the drive for use.
Switch the power button to "off." Disconnect the power cord from any extension cords or power strip, then re-seat the power cord into the hard drive. Connect the cord directly into an outlet and power up the drive. If the drive is powered and still not working, check the data cable. Power down the hard drive and disconnect the data cable from the computer. Wait 30 seconds to one minute. Reconnect the data cable and power up the drive. If the drive is not detected, power down the hard drive and connect the cable to a different port. Power up the drive. If the drive is detected but not working, check for a missing driver. Click on the "Start" button, right-click "Computer" and select "Manage." Enter your administrator password if requested. Select "Device Manager" and double-click "Disk Drives." Right-click the yellow exclamation point and install the missing driver. Close the Device Manager. If the drive is detected but not working check to ensure it has an assigned drive letter. Disconnect all devices connected by USB cables from the computer. Reconnect the drive's data and USB power cables directly into the computer. Click on the "Start" button, right-click "Computer" and select "Manage." Enter your administrator password if requested. Click on "Disk Management," right-click the external hard drive, click "change drive letter and path," and click "Add." Assign a drive letter. Avoid using A, B or C (C is usually assigned to the computer's internal hard drive). Click "OK" close the window. If the drive is detected but not working, check whether the drive is in sleep mode. Disconnect all devices connected by USB cables from the computer. Reconnect the drive's data and USB power cables directly into the computer. Click the "Start" button, right-click "Computer" and select "Manage." Enter your administrator password if requested. Select "Device Manager" and double-click "Universal Serial Bus Controllers." Double-click the first instance of "USB Root Hub" or "Root Hub." Check for the hard drive. If the drive is not visible, move to the next instance of "USB Root Hub." Continue checking each instance until the hard drive is located. Once located, click the "Power Management" tab and uncheck the "Allow computer to turn off this device to save power" box, click "OK," then close the Device Manager. Power the computer down, wait 30 seconds to one minute, and power the computer back up to ensure the drive is detected. Hope this helps.
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connect the device using as usb cable to your pc, it will start working and the pc should recognise it as a new hard drive. you can save data to it and from it like a regular harddrive.
if you have any prolbem first time you may need to format the drive.
only remove it when data has stoppped being transfered to or from it.
once removed the data put on it is still there and can be move from it to any other device that accepts the drive and the data formats.

I hope this was helpful

An external storage-device has four major components:

* the USB cable

* the power-adapter

* the disk-drive inside the enclosure

* the USB-to-disk-drive adapter inside the enclosure.

One of these components has failed.

Try a different USB cable.

Try connecting to a different USB port on your computer.

Try connecting to a USB port on a different computer.

Take a "multi-meter" and measure both the voltage and amperage output from the AC adapter, and compare with the specifications on the label on the adapter.

Open the enclosure, and remove the disk-drive, and then connect it as a "slave" disk-drive in a desktop computer, to see if it works at all.

Purchase a new, compatible, disk-drive, and install it in the enclosure, to "revive" your external storage device.

Get the part-number and serial-number from the label on your disk-drive, and access the manufacturer's web-site, and use "check warranty status", to see if they will replace the device, at minimal cost to you.

Note that W.D. has a "Customer Loyalty" program -- you can buy a new W.D. device, through the W.D. web-site, at a significant discount.

There exist commercial "data recovery" services that can try to repair your device, just long-enough to rescue and copy your files. For example, see: https://services.seagate.com/index.aspx?lng=en-US for a "no data - no charge" guarantee.

Yes , Flash drive is a good way of saving data from your computer it can also act as a back up of the data from the computer that you can access anytime, by simply connecting it to a USB port of computer.
Flash drive can be connected to a computer that has a USB port almost all computer has a a USB port including your computer.

Buy an IDE controller. Then install it.

OR

Buy a SATA hard drive and install it. SATA drives are faster. If you need to get data from your IDE drive to a new SATA drive, try using a IDE slave cable. These connect an IDE drive to one of your USB ports and allows you to use the drive just like an external hard drive or USB thumb drive. Pretty cool stuff. Have fun.

Suggestions:
(best to worst)
1. Use a "Y" USB cable with that drive.
2. Use a shorter USB cable.
3. Use the new cables with the canon
4. Use a 2.0 hub

The drive should have come with a "split" USB cable (USB "Y" cable). The drive requires a "data" and a "power" connection to your computer.
Get one at Radio Shack, Best Buy, Office Depot/Max... ($10)... or Dollar store ($1.09)

The Coolmax adapter is an USB hard drive adapter that can connect various types hard drives to your computer. This is used for testing and and transferring data to and from hard drives connected to the computer via the computer's USB port.

This Coolmax USB hard disk adapter can connect a 2.5-, 3.5- and 5.25-inch IDE or SATA hard disk to a PC. The black adapter box connects the hard disk, while the secondary power plug/adapter powers the drive. In the case of smaller notebook or SATA disks, the power cable is plugged directly into the adapter (as opposed to straight into the IDE hard disk).
The red USB cable, meanwhile, can be used to power hard disks directly from the host PC's bus via another USB port.

Connect the hard drive to the adapter as detailed above, power up your computer and plug the Coolmax USB cable into the conputer's USB port. The computer will detect and see this as an external drive, most likely as a E drive (the next drive letter that is available). Click on this drive and open to open the folder/s where your data is stored then select the folder/s and/or data and copy them, then open the hard drive on the computer and paste the folder/s and/or files onto the new hard drive.

Here is what you need. Go to a computer retail shop or get it online. You need an IDE / sata USB adapter cable. Here is what it does....you take the hard drive out of the damaged computer and attach the adapter to it, the other end is a USB plug that attaches to tyour good computer. Your good computer will read the drive on the usb cable and treat it as an external hard drive that you can copy and paste till your heart's content. The adapter dell for around 20-35 bucks. It is the safest way to transfer all your documents, favorites, nusic, Etc from the old system.

Seems like your case power is broken, check your warranty or buy a new one. to get your data back, open the case and unplug your harddriver, plug your driver in a PC computer and remove your important data.

You could also test a new power cable because it seems like your case doesent get any.

if you hear a loud click clacking noise then the drive is dead if not try a new usb cable or port or if your desprate to save your data and are wanting to save your self the head ache call seagate technologies and opt for data recovery.