Why won't my mac book pro recognize my external hard drive?

I'm having a battery issue with my computer, and need to bring it to the nearby Apple Store to have the battery looked at and possibly changed. I wanted to back up  my computer in preparation for my visit, but for whatever reason, my Mac Book Pro is not recognizing my trusty LaCie external hard drive, a device I have used with this computer for two years now and performed countless backups with. I am not sure why this is happening. I have already tried restarting the computer multiple times, and unplugging and replugging the hard drive, both to no avail. Are there any ways I can get my computer to recognize my hard drive in order to perform the backup? Thanks.

Hi all -
I cannot view my flash drive OR my office server, which I should be able to connect to via VPN. VPN was installed on my Macbook Pro at my office on Friday. It worked fine. Now I bring it home, and I connect using VPN, and it shows that I am connected, yet the server hard drive icon does not appear on my desktop (as it usually did) and I can't see how to access the server at work.
I also cannot view flash drives when I plug them in - they just don't show up.
I had Norton installed; I read online I should disable that. I did this, and no luck. I also have already done all the things suggested on this post and have all the boxes checked, and yet, still cannot use a flash drive or access my work server.
I am stuck? Do I have to bring my Macbook pro in for service? I have NOT upgraded to Mavericks.
Thanks for any help.
I am not that well versed in finding my way around a Mac - so keep any explanations simple, please.
L

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