Maxtor SATA Drive-bad drive or just not set up correctly

[Guest]

I recently installed a used Maxtor 6L300S0 SATA 150 300GB drive, but Xp does
not recognize it. I don't know if I have a bad drive, or if I just didn't
install properly.

I first installeda Maxtor SATA 150 Tx2Plus PCI board with the latest driver
from Maxtor. The Device Mgr shows it under SCSI and that it is working
properly.

I then installed the drive with the driver supplied by XP SP2. I then went
into BIOS setup and the drive is shown there. But it does not show up as 1 of
the installed 3 hdd in MyComputer. It also doesn't show up in Control
Panel/AdminTools/Computer Mgr/ Disk Mgt, so I can't partition and format it.

So I looked in Device Mgr/Disk Drives and it does show up as Disk 2 (PATA
drives are Disk 0 and Disk 1). When I right-click and select
properties/volumes/populate it shows:
Disk: Disk 2
Type: Unknown
Status: Unreadable

Therefore, I don't know if I have missed something in the installation
process, or if that "unreadable" means that the drive itself is bad.

I have a ten-day window in which to return it to the seller if it is bad.
But is there anything that I haven't done properly, or is there some other
way I can test the drive to see if it is bad?

Thanks for any help you can provide,
Les

 

[Guest]

I forgot to describe the system that this is installed in.

Dell 8250, 17" digital flat panel display, 1 Gig RAM, CD R/W DVD Combo, 16x
DVD Double Layer on USB, Visioneer 9020 Scanner on USB, Linksys router, DSL
modem.

 

[Tom Ferguson]

Navigate to http://www.maxtor.com and get MaxBlaster 4. CXreate the boot
CD, boot from that and run the diagnosis utility.

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User


message :I recently installed a used Maxtor 6L300S0 SATA 150 300GB drive, but Xp
does
: not recognize it. I don't know if I have a bad drive, or if I just
didn't
: install properly.
:
: I first installeda Maxtor SATA 150 Tx2Plus PCI board with the latest
driver
: from Maxtor. The Device Mgr shows it under SCSI and that it is working
: properly.
:
: I then installed the drive with the driver supplied by XP SP2. I then
went
: into BIOS setup and the drive is shown there. But it does not show up
as 1 of
: the installed 3 hdd in MyComputer. It also doesn't show up in Control
: Panel/AdminTools/Computer Mgr/ Disk Mgt, so I can't partition and
format it.
:
: So I looked in Device Mgr/Disk Drives and it does show up as Disk 2
(PATA
: drives are Disk 0 and Disk 1). When I right-click and select
: properties/volumes/populate it shows:
: Disk: Disk 2
: Type: Unknown
: Status: Unreadable
:
: Therefore, I don't know if I have missed something in the installation
: process, or if that "unreadable" means that the drive itself is bad.
:
: I have a ten-day window in which to return it to the seller if it is
bad.
: But is there anything that I haven't done properly, or is there some
other
: way I can test the drive to see if it is bad?
:
: Thanks for any help you can provide,
: Les

 

[Guest]

I tried that (both MaxBlaster 3 and 4), but it crashes on startup.

 

[Tom Ferguson]

You could try a BootIt NG boot disk, enter maintenance mode and see if
it sees the drive. If ir does, delete the present partitions if there
are any and set up the drive again. If the drive is not recognised,
return it.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/
You can run it unregistered but it is certainly woth the small
registration fee.

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User


message :I tried that (both MaxBlaster 3 and 4), but it crashes on startup.
:
: "Tom Ferguson" wrote:
:
: > Navigate to http://www.maxtor.com and get MaxBlaster 4. CXreate the
boot
: > CD, boot from that and run the diagnosis utility.
: >
: > Tom
: > MSMVP
: > Windows Shell/User
: >
: >
in
: > message : > :I recently installed a used Maxtor 6L300S0 SATA 150 300GB drive,
but Xp
: > does
: > : not recognize it. I don't know if I have a bad drive, or if I just
: > didn't
: > : install properly.
: > :
: > : I first installeda Maxtor SATA 150 Tx2Plus PCI board with the
latest
: > driver
: > : from Maxtor. The Device Mgr shows it under SCSI and that it is
working
: > : properly.
: > :
: > : I then installed the drive with the driver supplied by XP SP2. I
then
: > went
: > : into BIOS setup and the drive is shown there. But it does not show
up
: > as 1 of
: > : the installed 3 hdd in MyComputer. It also doesn't show up in
Control
: > : Panel/AdminTools/Computer Mgr/ Disk Mgt, so I can't partition and
: > format it.
: > :
: > : So I looked in Device Mgr/Disk Drives and it does show up as Disk
2
: > (PATA
: > : drives are Disk 0 and Disk 1). When I right-click and select
: > : properties/volumes/populate it shows:
: > : Disk: Disk 2
: > : Type: Unknown
: > : Status: Unreadable
: > :
: > : Therefore, I don't know if I have missed something in the
installation
: > : process, or if that "unreadable" means that the drive itself is
bad.
: > :
: > : I have a ten-day window in which to return it to the seller if it
is
: > bad.
: > : But is there anything that I haven't done properly, or is there
some
: > other
: > : way I can test the drive to see if it is bad?
: > :
: > : Thanks for any help you can provide,
: > : Les
: >
: >
: >

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the tip, Tom. Before I read your reply, I downloaded powermax.exe,
a drive-testing utility, from maxtor.com. It found the drive, tested it and
said it was failing. It attempted to fix the problem(s) but failed, and said
to replace it. I'm assuming this to be the case (Maxtor wouldn't tell me I
had a bum drive to get me to buy a new one from them, would they ;>) . So,
I'm packing it up and sending it back to the seller for a refund.

This time I'm getting a *new* drive for only about $20 more than the used
one. So my attempt to be thrifty (aka cheap) only cost me $6 to send it back!

Thanks again for your help.

Les