Can't copy files to an external hard-drive - help??

Hi all,

My problem originally stems from the never-ending issue of using external hard-drives with a Mac (this is a huge downside to owning a Mac by the way, so if TPTB are reading this they need to fix it!). My Toshiba hard-drive was being used as my Time Machine, until a few months ago when it stopped being recognised by my Mac. Because it doesn't show up in Finder or Disc Utility when I plug it in (even though the lights are on and I can hear the power running in it), I haven't been able to re-format it to make it useable again (assuming that would work). So I basically have a £80+ tea cup holder.....

Because of this, I decided this week to use my WD hard-drive to manually back up some files on my computer, since Time Machine hasn't been able to run since March. However, when I copy the files I want to move over, "Paste" is not showing up as an option on my WD drive (it's greyed out). I can't drag and drop the files as I get the circle with a line through it when I try, and I don't want to anyway as I don't want the files removed from my computer.

Can someone advise me on what to do? The WD drive is showing up, and it has space to accept these files, so if I can get the paste option to work we'd be ready to rock and roll! One of the folders I want to copy is my Music folder, and given it's size I know this will take hours to do, but it should be showing the paste option, shouldn't it? I'm running a Macbook Pro that's less than a year old, and all the software bits are up to date.

(Of course, if Apple would fix the stupid hard-drive issue then I wouldn't be having any of the problems..... GRRRRRR!)

Thanks in advance,

Millie