NEED HELP WITH DRIVE SPEED___PLEASE

[chambers@badlands.NoDak.edu (Michael A Chambers)]

Hello everyone, I am having some trouble with my external //c 3.5 inch 
drive (and the external 5 inch for that matter).  When I try to use them, 
they do not spin, but the operation lights on the drives will come on for 
a split second.  Also, the 3.5 inch drive does allow me to eject disks so 
they do have power going to them.
A while ago, the 3.5 inch drive showed the same symptoms, but then it 
started working again for about 3 months.  Now it is showing the same 
syptoms again but is not 'recovering'.  Could this have something to do 
with drive speed?  IF so, can someone tell me how to fix it?
thank you
mike