External 1394 Volume is Not Accessable

I have a WD 250 GB disk in a NexStar external drive case with both 1394 and
USB-2 connections. I have it connected to a Dell Inspiron laptop via
firewire and it has worked fine for the six months or so I have had the
computer. The drive is patitioned at 100 MB (volume F and 200 MB (volume
G. I am running Vista Home Premium.

My computer still has access to volume F:, but can no longer access volume
G:. It shows as a local disk (as opposed to the named volume) and if I try
to access it, I get the error "G is not accessable. The file or directory
is corrupted or unreadable." If I try to safely disconnect the device, I
get an error that I cannot as some program is still using it and close any
such program.

I have found MS KB article 930495 and am unsure if it applies. MS seems to
warn not to use the patch if my problem is not the same.

I would like to retrieve this info without expensive disk recovery. Does
this issue seem the same? Is there significant risk to the patch? Any
ideas what can be connecting? The volume is all music files and had only
been accessed previously by ITunes and File Directory (or whatever Vista
calls it).

Any suggestions? Is this part of the other Vista/1394 problems mentioned
elswhere in this newsgroup?

Thanks