External hard drive problem! pls help, have I lost everything??!!

Hi
Im new to this and was browsing this forum in the hope of finding a solution to my dilemma.

I have a Sumo External Hard Drive which has a shed load of files and data that I cant afford to lose.

It has been working fine previously for over a year, now all I get is USB device has malfunctioned.

I’ve tried different USB ports on my laptop, tried a different USB lead but I dont know what else to do.

Im using Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1 and have a Toshiba Laptop on a 32bit operating system.

I dont know if there is any help out there for me or any more info needed from me to help but any advice would be sincerely appreciated.