Maxtor external hard drive no longer recognized by My Computer

[Guest]

Hi,

I have a Maxtor One Touch II external hard drive. I've already returned it
to Maxtor two times, receiving a refurbished drive in return, and both times
the drives lost my data. Now this new refurbished drive has lost my data,
making it three in a row within a period of 6 months. The drive is 300Gb and
it's almost full. I made arrangements with Maxtor for a replacement of the
drive while it was still operational but they couldn't send one to me for two
weeks and now My Computer doesn't recognize it. I've tried connecting it
with a USB connection instead of having it firewired, I've tried switching it
with the power cord and cable of other Maxtor external hard drives that I
have, and I tried connecting it to another pc, all of which failed to open
the drive. The files on this drive represent about 6 months of hard work.

I called Maxtor Technical Help and I was told that they wouldn't transfer
the files from this failed drive that I'll be returning to them to the new
drive that they'll be mailing to me in about two weeks. I was also informed
that I could take the drive to have the files recovered, but the cost would
be between $500.00 and $2,500.00, but that doing so would void my warrenty.

Is there a way for me to open the drive to retrieve my files myself? If a
professional company can do it, then I should be able to do it if I have the
proper equipment and the knowledge. The worst I can do is fail to
successfully retrieve the file but since I can't access the files already,
I'll be no worse off.

Denise

 

[philo]

Hi,

I have a Maxtor One Touch II external hard drive. I've already returned it
to Maxtor two times, receiving a refurbished drive in return, and both times
the drives lost my data. Now this new refurbished drive has lost my data,
making it three in a row within a period of 6 months. The drive is 300Gb and
it's almost full. I made arrangements with Maxtor for a replacement of the
drive while it was still operational but they couldn't send one to me for two
weeks and now My Computer doesn't recognize it. I've tried connecting it
with a USB connection instead of having it firewired, I've tried switching it
with the power cord and cable of other Maxtor external hard drives that I
have, and I tried connecting it to another pc, all of which failed to open
the drive. The files on this drive represent about 6 months of hard work.

If the drive inside is a standard IDE drive you could remove it from the
case and try it in your computer ...
though the drive could be bad...it might just be the electronics inside
the box.

Note: you should have done a backup to DVD!!!!

 

[Jonny]

The original one touch had big problems. Apparently, by your recital of
events, the 2nd version has just a bad a problem.

Sorry to hear of your ill luck with the Maxtor one touch II.

 

[Sunny]

Hi,

I have a Maxtor One Touch II external hard drive. I've already returned it
to Maxtor two times, receiving a refurbished drive in return, and both times
the drives lost my data. Now this new refurbished drive has lost my data,
making it three in a row within a period of 6 months. The drive is 300Gb and
it's almost full. I made arrangements with Maxtor for a replacement of the
drive while it was still operational but they couldn't send one to me for two
weeks and now My Computer doesn't recognize it. I've tried connecting it
with a USB connection instead of having it firewired, I've tried switching it
with the power cord and cable of other Maxtor external hard drives that I
have, and I tried connecting it to another pc, all of which failed to open
the drive. The files on this drive represent about 6 months of hard work.

I called Maxtor Technical Help and I was told that they wouldn't transfer
the files from this failed drive that I'll be returning to them to the new
drive that they'll be mailing to me in about two weeks. I was also informed
that I could take the drive to have the files recovered, but the cost would
be between $500.00 and $2,500.00, but that doing so would void my warrenty.

Is there a way for me to open the drive to retrieve my files myself? If a
professional company can do it, then I should be able to do it if I have the
proper equipment and the knowledge. The worst I can do is fail to
successfully retrieve the file but since I can't access the files already,
I'll be no worse off.

Denise

First, take an image of the drive so that anything you try is working
against a copy - otherwise you risk making it more expensive and/or
impossible for data recovery specialists to restore your files in the
event you fail to do so.

Second, learn a valuable lesson. Data is not safe unless you have at
least three copies - primary, backup, and offsite backup.

Sunny

 

[Guest]

If the drive inside is a standard IDE drive you could remove it from the
case and try it in your computer ...
though the drive could be bad...it might just be the electronics inside
the box.

Note: you should have done a backup to DVD!!!!

Thanks Philo, that's a good idea and I'll try it.

I have three 300G hard drives that are near capacity and only a vcd ROM
drive, an impossible task to back-up that many files that way. I recently
purchased a Seagate int hd for additional space and to back-up the most
important files but the Maxtor crashed before I could install it. One more
week was all I needed . . .
(famous last words)

Denise

 

[Guest]

First, take an image of the drive so that anything you try is working
against a copy - otherwise you risk making it more expensive and/or
impossible for data recovery specialists to restore your files in the
event you fail to do so.

Second, learn a valuable lesson. Data is not safe unless you have at
least three copies - primary, backup, and offsite backup.

Sunny

Hi Sunny,

How do I take an image of the drive since it isn't recognized in My Computer?
How do I take an image of a drive that's working properly?

I addressed the issue of backup in response to the post by philo . . . in
short, almost 900Gb and only a vcd ROM drive. Hardware is expensive and can
be replaced/added slowly but surely.

Thanks for you advice . . . I appreciate it.

Denise

 

[DL]

To image a drive, that is working, I use Acronis True Image, others use
Ghost.
Acronis can create an Image, then add changed files I assume Ghost has the
same.
With this amount of data your options for backup are either hd's, DVD's or
Tape Drive.
Whichever method you choose will be cheaper than recovery.

With the amount of hd problems you have had you might want to check that
your psu is up to the load placed on it.

 

[Guest]

:

To image a drive, that is working, I use Acronis True Image, others use
Ghost. Acronis can create an Image, then add changed files I assume Ghost
has the same. With this amount of data your options for backup are either
hd's, DVD's or Tape Drive. Whichever method you choose will be cheaper than
recovery.

With the amount of hd problems you have had you might want to check that
your psu is up to the load placed on it.

=================================

I don't understand what imaging is? Is it simply copies of the files or an
image/ghost that's much smaller than the original file? If that's what it
is, it sounds very good. Please let me know.

My psu is up to the load. I have 2 other Maxtors and I've had no problems
with them. The ones that I'm having the problem with are refurbished ones
that were sent to me because the original one failed prior to the expiration
of the warranty. If you ask me, I think their idea of refurbishing is
polishing the case and shipping it out. The problem that I had with the
newest refurbished one was immediate after connecting it to my pc. I
foolishly wanted to give it a chance but I should have shipped it right back
to Maxtor.

 

[DL]

http://www.digitalriver.com/dr/sat5...7&CUR=840&DSP=&PGRP=0&ABCODE=&CACHE_ID=194730
or
http://tinyurl.com/htnhu

An image is what it says, allthough the format of the file created can only
be used by the imaging app.
The file created is also smaller than that in what the image was created
from.
People also use imaging to create an exact copy of a hd on which the o/s
resides.
ie image an o/s hd, pull the hd, replace with new bare hd, copy image back
to new hd. Voila you have a working o/s on the new hd

 

[All Things Mopar]

Today =?Utf-8?B?SGFydHNWaWRlbw==?= commented courteously on
the subject at hand

[snip]

I have three 300G hard drives that are near capacity and
only a vcd ROM drive, an impossible task to back-up that
many files that way. I recently purchased a Seagate int hd
for additional space and to back-up the most important
files but the Maxtor crashed before I could install it.
One more week was all I needed . . .
(famous last words)

Denise, I have a Maxtor 300 gig identical to yours. I am sorry
to hear about your troubles. Fortunately for me, mine has been
running fine for months.

As to multiple backups to avoid the catastrophic data loss
you've suffered and the obvious lack of practicality in
keeping 300 gig up-to-date with DVDs (or, 900 gig in your
case, Egad!), here is what I did to increase overall security
for my 3 PCs.

I bought two more externals from a company I'd never heard of
- Hammer. They only cost $180 for 250gig and are performing
well. Performance and MTBF failure specs are the same as
Maxtor Western Digital, Seagate, and other popular brands,
they're just less expensive. I am using them as rotating off-
site backups in what IS/IT people call "grandfathering".
Basically, here's what I do:

I rented a larger safety deposit box at my local bank for
$67/year which will easily take a Hammer drive as well as my
important papers. Once a month, I copy /everything/ from all
the partitions of my PCs, including an Acronis True Image 9.0
full partition backup of my C:\Windows primary partition.
After one set of full backups is complete, I exchange the
Hammer I have in my home with the one at the bank, and repeat
the same scheme the following month.

My idea is to mitigate two main worries: 1) total loss of
everything in the event of a fire, tornado, or some otehr
natural disaster, and 2) a break-in where everything is
stolen. I hope I never need to "recover" from one of these
catastrophic disasters, but if I do, I am reasonably sure that
I won't lose more than a month's worth of data, as well as be
able to reload Windoze without the usual nuke and reinstall
mess.

Along the way, my triple whammy external solution, augmented
by CD-R and DVD-R, also theoretically protects me from any of
my HDs suddenly dying or any one of my 3 externals dying, as
yours have. So, the two Hammers rotate to the bank and my (so
far) working Maxtor is attached for everyday backups.

Sorry to be verbose, but if you have a few extra dollars, this
idea may help you as well. Plus, others lurking may pick up an
idea or two from both of us.

Good luck in getting your data back!

 

[Guest]

Today =?Utf-8?B?SGFydHNWaWRlbw==?= commented courteously on
the subject at hand

[snip]

I have three 300G hard drives that are near capacity and
only a vcd ROM drive, an impossible task to back-up that
many files that way. I recently purchased a Seagate int hd
for additional space and to back-up the most important
files but the Maxtor crashed before I could install it.
One more week was all I needed . . .
(famous last words)

Denise, I have a Maxtor 300 gig identical to yours. I am sorry
to hear about your troubles. Fortunately for me, mine has been
running fine for months.

As to multiple backups to avoid the catastrophic data loss
you've suffered and the obvious lack of practicality in
keeping 300 gig up-to-date with DVDs (or, 900 gig in your
case, Egad!), here is what I did to increase overall security
for my 3 PCs.

I bought two more externals from a company I'd never heard of
- Hammer. They only cost $180 for 250gig and are performing
well. Performance and MTBF failure specs are the same as
Maxtor Western Digital, Seagate, and other popular brands,
they're just less expensive. I am using them as rotating off-
site backups in what IS/IT people call "grandfathering".
Basically, here's what I do:

I rented a larger safety deposit box at my local bank for
$67/year which will easily take a Hammer drive as well as my
important papers. Once a month, I copy /everything/ from all
the partitions of my PCs, including an Acronis True Image 9.0
full partition backup of my C:\Windows primary partition.
After one set of full backups is complete, I exchange the
Hammer I have in my home with the one at the bank, and repeat
the same scheme the following month.

My idea is to mitigate two main worries: 1) total loss of
everything in the event of a fire, tornado, or some otehr
natural disaster, and 2) a break-in where everything is
stolen. I hope I never need to "recover" from one of these
catastrophic disasters, but if I do, I am reasonably sure that
I won't lose more than a month's worth of data, as well as be
able to reload Windoze without the usual nuke and reinstall
mess.

Along the way, my triple whammy external solution, augmented
by CD-R and DVD-R, also theoretically protects me from any of
my HDs suddenly dying or any one of my 3 externals dying, as
yours have. So, the two Hammers rotate to the bank and my (so
far) working Maxtor is attached for everyday backups.

Sorry to be verbose, but if you have a few extra dollars, this
idea may help you as well. Plus, others lurking may pick up an
idea or two from both of us.

Good luck in getting your data back!

Thanks for your input Jerry. Someone else here mentioned the triple whammy
also. I know I have to do something (it's the reason for the purchase of the
additional drive) but I was so busy trying to crank out the work that I let
backing it up go, always thinking that I'd do it properly when I had the
chance. For the past few days, I've been looking for cheaper external hd's
so I'll look into the Hammers. I've also been considering hot swapable
drives but it would mean a new case because I have a zip drive and the size
of the zip drive opening isn't large enough. My pc is old but it's a work
horse that takes a beating and has, so far, kept on processing, but I plan on
replacing it within the next year or so at the most. If it's still working
when I get the new pc, I'll use it for networking . . . while it burns to
disk, I'll be cranking out my work on the new one.

Shortly, I'm going to be looking into the feasibility of removing the case
from the failed Maxtor and connecting the drive internally.

Denise

 

[All Things Mopar]

Today =?Utf-8?B?SGFydHNWaWRlbw==?= commented courteously on
the subject at hand

Thanks for your input Jerry.

glad it was of use to you, Denise.

Someone else here mentioned

the triple whammy also. I know I have to do something
(it's the reason for the purchase of the additional drive)
but I was so busy trying to crank out the work that I let
backing it up go, always thinking that I'd do it properly
when I had the chance.

Sadly, most of us "old hands" at computing all learned the
same "school of hard knocks" way of backing up - right /after/
we had a disaster (I've been doing this one way or another for
40 years). I remember in my early mainframe programming days
in the mid-1970s I asked a more experienced programmer how
often I should save - and to a different name. He said "how
many minutes/hours/days of your work can you afford to lose?
whatever the answer, back up more often than that!" Good
advice.

And, when I managed a CAD and PC support group later in my
career, you have no idea how many frantic calls I got from
some executive asking if my people could rescue some important
document his admin worked on all day and lost when her PC
crashed. I said "just reload the last saved copy". Answer?
"she didn't save it at all, she edited all day long and sent
it right to her printer". Well, his report was toast. The
/single/ biggest cause of a PC lockup or crash is trying to
print, particularly a big job.

When I'm working on a long, involved, important job, I'll
periodically save to a series of different file names and copy
them off to off-line storage before going home. My sanity is
more "expensive" than a DVD so I don't mind blowing a buck on
a quickie burn.

I knew a guy someplace else on Usenet that actually went away
for a month-long trip to China and left his PC running! Of
course, somewhere along the line, his HD died. He may have
gotten some warning signs if he'd been home. And, no, he had
zero backups.

I don't like to give Murphy an even break in anything I do.
That isn't always possible by the very definition of Murphy's
Law, but taking a logical approach to your data management can
at least delay visits. It's like people that leave M$ Auto
Update on full auto and also schedule a nightly HD defrag.
And, they are actually surprised to find in the morning that
their system is destroyed one way or another!

For the past few days, I've been

looking for cheaper external hd's so I'll look into the
Hammers.

Don't necessarily take my comments as any kinda testimonial,
just a data point. I just shopped around locally for a few
days comparing prices and specs and bought them from a store
that gives me 21 days to return it no questions asked. One of
mine is now vibrating some. I did a file system and bad block
scan with no errors found but it may be dying. Or, it may be
nothing at all...

Shortly, I'm going to be looking into the feasibility of
removing the case from the failed Maxtor and connecting the
drive internally.

I know zero.zero about HD forensics so best of luck with that.

 

[Sunny]

Today =?Utf-8?B?SGFydHNWaWRlbw==?= commented courteously on
the subject at hand




glad it was of use to you, Denise.

Someone else here mentioned



Sadly, most of us "old hands" at computing all learned the
same "school of hard knocks" way of backing up - right /after/
we had a disaster (I've been doing this one way or another for
40 years). I remember in my early mainframe programming days
in the mid-1970s I asked a more experienced programmer how
often I should save - and to a different name. He said "how
many minutes/hours/days of your work can you afford to lose?
whatever the answer, back up more often than that!" Good
advice.

I have Ghost configured to perform an incremental image backup of my
drive hourly to my file server, which runs RAID 5. Once a week I backup
the file server to tape, and take the tapes to my cottage.

If my PC fails, I loose no more than an hour's work. If my house burns
down, I loose no more than a week's work.

Sunny

 

[All Things Mopar]

Today Sunny commented courteously on the subject at hand

I have Ghost configured to perform an incremental image
backup of my drive hourly to my file server, which runs
RAID 5. Once a week I backup the file server to tape, and
take the tapes to my cottage.

Hourly? Is this your home or work PC? I have a LAN but hardly a
reason or budget for RAID.

If my PC fails, I loose no more than an hour's work. If my
house burns down, I loose no more than a week's work.

Then, your server and RAID complex must be elsewhere. Guess my
car picture hobby pales in comparison to the importance of your
work. <grin>

 

[Sunny]

Today Sunny commented courteously on the subject at hand




Hourly? Is this your home or work PC? I have a LAN but hardly a
reason or budget for RAID.

I work from home on contract. If my PC goes down, I earn nothing until I
resolve the problem. If I loose work I have not yet delivered, I have to
do it over to get paid.

My RAID 5 file server was not expensive. It's an older P3 system built
into a tower case running used SCSI drives and Linux. I got the SCSI
RAID controller free with the drives because it was busted - somebody
had dropped it and knocked a few surface mount components off the board.
I fixed it, then paid $150 on eBay for an identical controller as a
backup - but have not needed it yet.

Then, your server and RAID complex must be elsewhere. Guess my
car picture hobby pales in comparison to the importance of your
work. <grin>

No, the server is in the basement behind my office. It's just the backup
tapes I take offsite.

Recently my XP system bluescreened overnight, then froze on mup.sys when
I tried to reboot - this has never happened before, system is usually
solid. Rather than try to repair it, I simply restored the 3am backup
from the file server (took 20 minutes) and got back to work. No problems
since

Sunny

 

[All Things Mopar]

Today Sunny commented courteously on the subject at hand

I work from home on contract. If my PC goes down, I earn
nothing until I resolve the problem. If I loose work I have
not yet delivered, I have to do it over to get paid.

My RAID 5 file server was not expensive. It's an older P3
system built into a tower case running used SCSI drives and
Linux. I got the SCSI RAID controller free with the drives
because it was busted - somebody had dropped it and knocked
a few surface mount components off the board. I fixed it,
then paid $150 on eBay for an identical controller as a
backup - but have not needed it yet.


No, the server is in the basement behind my office. It's
just the backup tapes I take offsite.

Then, if your house with your office in it burns down, doesn't
the Fire Dept ruin your RAID by piling tens of thousands of
gallons of water on it?

I'd already considered and discarded the idea of storing my
external and optical on a shelf in my basement 4 feet off the
floor for this very reason, plus the distinct possiblity that
burning stuff will fall through the floor and land on my
plastic backups.

Recently my XP system bluescreened overnight, then froze on
mup.sys when I tried to reboot - this has never happened
before, system is usually solid. Rather than try to repair
it, I simply restored the 3am backup from the file server
(took 20 minutes) and got back to work. No problems since

BTW, I think what happens when data disappears is that you
"lose" it, unless you "loose" the bits somehow, so I'm
assuming I'm still falling for an April Fool joke here. <grin>

 

[Sunny]

Today Sunny commented courteously on the subject at hand




Then, if your house with your office in it burns down, doesn't
the Fire Dept ruin your RAID by piling tens of thousands of
gallons of water on it?

Yes, that's why I back up the RAID to tape and take the tapes elsewhere.

I'd already considered and discarded the idea of storing my
external and optical on a shelf in my basement 4 feet off the
floor for this very reason, plus the distinct possiblity that
burning stuff will fall through the floor and land on my
plastic backups.



BTW, I think what happens when data disappears is that you
"lose" it, unless you "loose" the bits somehow, so I'm
assuming I'm still falling for an April Fool joke here. <grin>

No joke, just a typo

Sunny