WD 1TB EXT HD help please

Hello,

before writing this I did google for answers but my problem is a bit different so bare with me please.

before I start no I do not right click to disconnect the HD before disconnecting it. but in recent weeks it was working, i purchased a new one and i put my old one in storage for about two weeks. took it out to xfer some data.

here's the problem. when i first plugged it in, the 1tb showed up on my comp for a few seconds then it disappeared.

so i unplugged it, plugged it back now it's asking me to format it.

i said screw that, too much valuable data let me try to plug it back in. now it doesn't do anything.

i tried checking the device manager and the hd is no longer showing up/recognized by the pc. i'm currently updating the drivers but can't seem to find it. wd site only has downloads for reformatting, nothing specific about drivers.

im confused because why at one point did it load then disappear, and now why is it asking me to format? i assume it's corrupted, but if it's corrupted why did it load the 1st time. also, i've had this hd for about two years now and just recently it's not working. i'm very sad because it has A LOT of valuable data to me (music, lyrics, games, movies, pictures, especially my music and lyrics i can never retrieve).

so my question is

1) aside from the device manager how else can i force my pc to recognize it
and
2) if the hd is indeed corrupted, is there any other way to physically take out the hd and put it in another case, because maybe it's a port problem?

thanks is advance.