okay, well i'm getting crankier by the minute, but the client may actually be innocent (hold fire until i confirm, patricia). it's not the drive (necessarily...) that's malfunctioning. it's the ports. ALL of the ports. now none of my usb drives are recognized, including my 500go external backup drive. i've rebooted twice now (you never know...), no change. farking windows.
i remember having a problem like this after re-installing my system once. i don't remember how i fixed it but i remember it took me days of trawling through forums and trying many many obscure "fixes" that weren't. i think i bookmarked the one that actually worked though. i hope.
i'm upgrading my computer this week and it looks like it's just in time (maybe even a few days too late).