I can't access the files from my Western Digital 1 TB My Book.
It shows up in Windows Explorer as Local Disk (D:) but when I click on it, the green bar at the top starts but not finishes. Windows Explorer then freezes up. The same goes when I drag a file to the drive.
Any ideas on what may causing the malfunction?
I suspect the drive got damaged when I unplugged the drive without safely removing it.
Does SMART say anything?
Agreed, you need to check for potential drive failure before caning it with a chkdsk.
Download CrystalDiskInfo and open it up (you will probably want the "Standard Edition" portable version):
http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html
Yellow or red stuff generally indicates drive failure. Blue is probably fine, no guarantees though.
If you are comfortable that the disk is alright, I would suggest a chkdsk since you think it might be related to a bad eject.
CrystalDiskInfo indicates it's bad. What are my options now? Is it possible to recover the files on the drive?
Wait... Is this an SSD or an HDD? I was not aware of WD making external SSDs. If it's an HDD. Then there are some tthings you can try to recover it. If it's an SSD then you're kinda SOL unless the drive is in some sort of read only panic mode.