My Passport 500gb light just flashes when I plug it in

When I plug My Passport 500gb into my computer, the led light on the side goes on and then, within a moment, it  flashes a few times per second.  My computer doesn’t pick it up, it doesn’t make any noise or anything.  I want to be able to access my files, but there is no way to get to them if the computer doesn’t recognize the Hard Drive.

My IT dept. tried a few different cables and tried my cable in another device which worked, so I know that isn’t the issue. 

What can I do???  I have pictures of my sons that (now I have learned my lesson) aren’t stored anywhere else.

I’ve owned the device for at least a year… probably longer.

HELP!!!

does the drive show up in disk management?  if so, then the drive most likely has file system corruption.  also, try the drive on another computer to see if it shows up there.  might be a power problem - it’s not getting enough power.