How can I accessthe file contents directly off of the hard drive if I've connected it to my laptop via USB? My laptop detects the drive, but I am unable to see any of the files. Please help!!
you need to use a linux filesystem reader. ext3 is a utility you can download from buffalo support, that allows for windows to read the filesystem.
or you can use linux. or there are 3rd party utilities that others have highly recommended (I don't remember the name) in older threads to recover damaged buffalo filesystems, like deleted partition tables.