no it's not for the average person, my equipment i have is independent from windows and uses specific ata commands for mounting procedures. then it does a diagnostics on the hard drive. if it fails the firmware portion of the diagnostics it will download and install the correct firmware (if available) or a repair solution to make the drive operable again, not 100% guaranty it will work.
my suggestion is to just replace the drive. for me to connect your drive and do a successful repair is gonna cost you $100. because most my passport drives have a propitiatory usb connector and then i have to add a SATA connector soldered onto the board to make the recovery process do-able. and still no guaranty it will work.
now if you pop the drive apart and it has a SATA connector already then i can just plug into it and check it at no charge. to see if it's repairable.