HT1782 External HD won't mount, suggests disk utility to repair, but I can't back it up.

Hello,
I'm having some problems with my Western Digital My Passport 1TB.   When I plug it in I receive an error that says "the disk you inserted was not readable".  I've read some suggestions that say to you Repair on Disk Utility, but others that say to back it up first.  Unfortunately the disk won't mount so I can't back it up.  Am I best to unplug it and try it on a new machine?  Or verify? Or repair?
I'm sure this goes without saying, but the contents are extremely valuable to me.  What is the safest method to retrieve it?
Thanks very much for your help.

I would try shutting down, unplug the WD external drive, restart and after getting to my Desktop, plug the WD drive in and see if it's mounted and readable.

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    See mount section in 1st linked article.
    Disk Unmount Using Terminal
    Disk Utility – Force Mount Disk

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    Can anyone tell me why this won't go away after it says its been repaired? It continues to exist as un repaired.
    User differs on “private/var/db/displaypolicyd”; should be 0; user is 244.
    Group differs on “private/var/db/displaypolicyd”; should be 0; group is 244
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    Thanks for these replies. 
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    Message was edited by: colmiak

  • External HDD won't appear in Disk Utility

    Hi all,
    after a lot of time spent browsing forums to find a solution, I finally decided to post here:
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    SebHz wrote:
    Not sur how I can use the disk in another enclosure, it looks like this: http://www.hgst.com/support/external-drive-support/touro-mobile-technical-suppor t
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