Hey,
I have 80 GB maxtor portable hard disk but for some reason I can't access it.. it was working properly and soon it is giving error message " access is denied, the file or directory is unreadable or corrupted"... please help me with this.. I have very important files in my hard disk..

Waiting for the reply post

First, stop using the drive until you can make a backup of whatever is readable on the drive. Then, verify the drive by scanning for errors using the CHKDSK /F command-line tool, the error checking tool on the drive's property dialog, or your operating system's disk utility if you aren't running Windows. Even better would be to take the drive out of its enclosure, install it internally, and run the manufacturer's DOS diagnostic utility available on their web site from a boot floppy/cd/usb drive.

If any of the above is unclear or intimidating, please take drive to a local reputable computer service facility to avoid losing your data.

Also, are you running ZoneAlarm?