Best external drives for reliable backups?

Hey everyone.
Is there any way I can actually "rescue" my data from an external drive? It's a Transcend StoreJet.
Basically, it won't mount, it won't let me read anything, and I just can't get to my files at all.

😠

http://postimg.org/image/l1d5yu935/

http://postimg.org/image/qo0so7ds1/

What error message pops up when you try to open it?

fadedorca66 said:What kind of error message are you getting when you try to open it?

Hey there. When I plug it into my PC, it either doesn't recognize the drive at all, or it shows up as a disk but won't let me access any files—it’s basically asking for a format, which makes me think the thing just died on me.
I can hear the drive spinning up and doing its thing, but it just absolutely refuses to open.