Member Avatar for AzzaKaz

Hello all. I was wondering if someone would be able to help me. I have a Maxtor 100 gig external harddrive which isn't being read by windows.

Basically, I'll turn it on, I hear it start up and all...but it is just not showing up in My Computer. At first, I thought maybe it was the USB cable, but after using it on my modem it worked fine. I have tried everything to fix this problem, switching it on/off, changing plugs and USB ports.

It has been on for most of the year, I occasionally turn it off, and the blue light on the front is also flashing instead of being steady, which I don't think it did before. I'm guessing it is a problem with the hard drive itself and not with Windows.

Can anyone help me? I have several important files on there, thankyou in advance.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by BRICAL3

Dani AI

Generated

A compact, practical checklist that builds on points from , and and focuses on steps that most often separate a recoverable problem from a hardware failure.

  1. Use Windows tools first: open Computer Management -> Disk Management and look for any disk that appears without a drive letter, is "offline" or shows as unallocated. Do NOT initialize a disk you need to recover; assigning a letter is safe, initializing is not.
  2. Check Device Manager and USB controllers for "Unknown device" or driver errors. Uninstall any suspicious USB Mass Storage entries, unplug, then plug back in to force a rescan.
  3. Boot a Linux live USB to get raw kernel feedback. Commands like dmesg and lsblk will show whether the controller and drive are being detected even when Windows hides them. This also gives an environment for imaging without writing to the disk.
  4. Observe behavior and sounds: repeated spin-ups, long pauses, or clicking usually mean mechanical trouble. A flashing front LED can point to bridge/power or drive faults — try the original power brick if you have it. Avoid repeated power cycles if the drive clicks.
  5. If you are comfortable removing the drive (as suggested by others), be aware of warranty and ESD risks. Connect the drive directly to a desktop IDE/SATA port or a known-good adapter and check BIOS detection. Set jumpers correctly on PATA drives.

Make a forensic image before attempting repairs. On Linux, GNU ddrescue is a good option:

sudo ddrescue -f -n /dev/sdX /path/to/image.img /path/to/rescue.log
sudo ddrescue -d -r3 /dev/sdX /path/to/image.img /path/to/rescue.log

Replace /dev/sdX with the device and safeguard the image and log files.

If the disk appears in BIOS but not Windows, try partition recovery tools (TestDisk) on the image. If there are clear mechanical symptoms or the disk is never detected, stop and consult a professional data-recovery service — DIY attempts risk making recovery impossible.

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Member Avatar for raybay

The life of an external Maxtor is about a year, in our experience.

If you cannot detect the drive so that it shows up in your BIOS or in the hardware list of Windows, it may be trouble. You can remove the drive from the case and try it in a computer to see if detected there.

Despite your tests, I would try an new or known working USB 2.0 cable, check all connections carefully by removing and resetting them. Be certain your power adapter is working and that no cables are crimped.

We see a lot of external Maxtor drives in our shop with mysterious problems... and even more with other brands.

Member Avatar for dcc

Have you tried installing it as a slave on the same IDE cable with your hdd with your OS system on it?

Most any current hdds should last longer that a year unless they have be subjected to some form of trama, not just internal hdds but externals as well. I had a guy who had nocked his external hdd off the table and couldn't understand why that should effect it.

Member Avatar for BRICAL3

Hello all. I was wondering if someone would be able to help me. I have a Maxtor 100 gig external harddrive which isn't being read by windows.

Basically, I'll turn it on, I hear it start up and all...but it is just not showing up in My Computer. At first, I thought maybe it was the USB cable, but after using it on my modem it worked fine. I have tried everything to fix this problem, switching it on/off, changing plugs and USB ports.

It has been on for most of the year, I occasionally turn it off, and the blue light on the front is also flashing instead of being steady, which I don't think it did before. I'm guessing it is a problem with the hard drive itself and not with Windows.

Can anyone help me? I have several important files on there, thankyou in advance.

try connecting the maxtor to other computers. if the light still flickers, the drive is toast. but will make a good doorstop

BRICAL3

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