I have a western digital my book external hard drive when i plug it up to my computer it shows that there is 130 gb used but it doesn't show any files. I need to access these files any suggestions?

I would right click the drive and go to properties and choose tools.
From there you should run a chkdsk/scandisk.

Edit: does it do the same thing on another computer?

You probably need to have "view hidden files" or whatever turned on in your OS or Folder View settings.



Not enough info provided to determine if you might have another partition set up on that thing by some kind of factory installed backup software package.



I built all my external hard drives from bare drives and bare housings so that I didn't get stuck with any factory installed automatic backup software crap I didn't want and didn't need.

This is what I am thinking will just having it checked make everything show up hidden? because it looks as though it is in watermark form instead of bold if that doesn't confuse you more

It will show any hidden or system files that are normally not shown to the typical user, who would maybe try to delete them and hose the whole system.  However, there are also Read Only or System attributes on files that make it difficult or impossible to delete them if the files are open and in use by the OS.



First thing to do is enable viewing hidden files to see if you have any visible on that drive, or if the Trashcan for that drive has a lot of deleted crap in it that hasn't been cleared out yet.



Usually a modern OS will set aside a small percentage of a drive when it formats it, in order to store information required to restore damage and fix things.  Most OS's today keep a running journal on each drive to store file and directory information so that restoration and repairs can be made after a sudden power failure or system lockup.





 

Click the start button and type <command> in the Search Programs and Files field.  Execute the command prompt program.



In the DOS window type the drive letter for your external drive followed by a colon.  Example   J:



From the J:\ prompt type DIR



If your file system is intact you should see a list of directories on that drive.



Type <exit> at the command prompt to exit the DOS program.

I am thinking i need the software for this hard drive thats why i believe its not reading it. Does that make sense

Is this your drive or someone elses?  Could it be an encrypted drive?





 

Its mine. but my orignal hard drive crashed and I bought a new computer. I tried to hook the exteranal hard drive up and recover some files but I cannot find any of the files I backed up

Alright, let's start over...



What operating system is your computer using (both the crashed one and the new one)?



Can you see the drive at all from your new computer (does it have a drive letter assigned to it)?



Can you save a new file to the external hard drive and then access it there?

windows vista, yep I can see the drive and it has 130gb used. but doesn't show any files.

Save a file...any file...to the USB drive and tell me if that works.





 

yep it saves just fine

That answers a lot.  Now we know that the drive is working and the software on your new PC is configured properly.  What software did you use to do the backups you can't find?