Vista - Maxtor External drive and vista... Maxtor won't help me!

I have a brand new dell laptop. It has vista. My old computer was XP
and I am trying to move over some certain files, (music and pictures)
from the external hard drive to the vista system. I plugged in the EXT
HD and vista accepted it without any problems. It shows up with the
correct name in the USB device list but for the life of me it will not
show up in "my computer"
I have completed windows update......

Maxtor says, "We can't help you with this issue"

Please help me if you can!

On 16 Mar 2007 07:42:21 -0700, BEN@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM wrote:

>I have a brand new dell laptop. It has vista. My old computer was XP
>and I am trying to move over some certain files, (music and pictures)
>from the external hard drive to the vista system. I plugged in the EXT
>HD and vista accepted it without any problems. It shows up with the
>correct name in the USB device list but for the life of me it will not
>show up in "my computer"
>I have completed windows update......
>
>Maxtor says, "We can't help you with this issue"
>
>Please help me if you can!

I feel your pain...

For example I have a perfectly good Seagate SATA drive, if I install
it ALONE as an Internal Vista sees it. If I install a second SATA
drive unless I humble it down to IDE mode Vista won't see it. If I
take the same drive and put it in a external case again Vista won't
see it, this time not even if it is alone unless I disable the SATA
connector and plug it in using USB 2.0. I've seen simular issues in XP
where Windows is too dumb to see a external drive regardless how it is
connected, it will show as 0 bytes and won't be accepted unless you
reformat. The same drive placed in another Windows box runs perfectly.
Go Figure.

USB devices can at times be a pain in the butt. Try this:

Shutdown. Turn off your external drive (assuming it has an exteranl
power source). Now leave it off. Reboot your laptop. Wait till Windows
comes up and it settles down. Now turn on your external drive, then
wait a few seconds and only now plug in the USB cable into your
laptop. In a couple seconds or less you should hear a audio cue and
Windows should respond probably with autorun or some menu showing your
drive.

Now I'm a old hand with Maxtor external drives. If yours is more than
a year old and you still can't get it to work, you may wish to do what
I did years back.

While it will void the warranty if you can't get your data and Maxtor
won't help, just carefully open the case. Depending on model it can be
a little tricky. Once you do, you'll see a plain vanilla IDE drive
inside. It should be just pushed onto a very cheesy, very little
circuit card not much bigger then a matchbook. Carefully remove the
power connector and wiggle the drive free from the circut card. It
should only take slight effort. Do NOT use brute force. Now how you
proceed next depends on how valiable your data is.

I would simply take the now free drive and attach it to a IDE cable
and plug it into another computer, then see if the drive itself is ok,
which it probably is, then copy your data. Now that it on a different
system, since you laptop probably doesn't have a easy means to connect
to the outside word, it would probably be worth your while to pick up
something like LapLink that comes with a set of cables and software
that makes it a easy job to transfer files back and forth from one
computer to another.

What went wrong? Probably not Windows this time. What failed is the
little circuit card in the Maxtor external. All the stress the cheap
card gets when you plug in and yank out the connector sooner or later
damages this circuit card unless you are always exceedingly gentle.
You'll find all kinds of horor stories on the web about the Maxtor
external early models, even Maxtor admitted as much.

I have a external Maxtor one-touch drive and ran into this same behavior
before I remembered that it was password protected with the Maxtor software.
I hooked it up to the old XP system where I had the software installed,
removed the password, moved it back to the Vista machine and viola, it
worked.

<BEN@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM> wrote in message
news:1174056141.426688.57960@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>I have a brand new dell laptop. It has vista. My old computer was XP
> and I am trying to move over some certain files, (music and pictures)
> from the external hard drive to the vista system. I plugged in the EXT
> HD and vista accepted it without any problems. It shows up with the
> correct name in the USB device list but for the life of me it will not
> show up in "my computer"
> I have completed windows update......
>
> Maxtor says, "We can't help you with this issue"
>
> Please help me if you can!
>

On Mar 16, 10:55 am, "LaRoux" <h...@newsgroup.nospam> wrote:
> I have a external Maxtor one-touch drive and ran into this same behavior
> before I remembered that it was password protected with the Maxtor software.
> I hooked it up to the old XP system where I had the software installed,
> removed the password, moved it back to the Vista machine and viola, it
> worked.
>
> <B...@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM> wrote in message
>
> news:1174056141.426688.57960@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> >I have a brand new dell laptop. It has vista. My old computer was XP
> > and I am trying to move over some certain files, (music and pictures)
> > from the external hard drive to the vista system. I plugged in the EXT
> > HD and vista accepted it without any problems. It shows up with the
> > correct name in the USB device list but for the life of me it will not
> > show up in "my computer"
> > I have completed windows update......
>
> > Maxtor says, "We can't help you with this issue"
>
> > Please help me if you can!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks, I will try that.
Now......I do not have the back-up software any more. Will I still be
able to explore the drive from my computer? Its a OneTouch III 2.0 usb
200gb
Thanks.....

The backup software (Retrospect Express) is separate from the drive password
software. If you don't have the software available anymore, try downloading
it from Maxtor.

<BEN@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM> wrote in message
news:1174062904.597516.319510@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks, I will try that.
> Now......I do not have the back-up software any more. Will I still be
> able to explore the drive from my computer? Its a OneTouch III 2.0 usb
> 200gb
> Thanks.....
>

On Mar 16, 11:52 am, "LaRoux" <h...@newsgroup.nospam> wrote:
> The backup software (Retrospect Express) is separate from the drive password
> software. If you don't have the software available anymore, try downloading
> it from Maxtor.
>
> <B...@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM> wrote in message
>
> news:1174062904.597516.319510@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > Thanks, I will try that.
> > Now......I do not have the back-up software any more. Will I still be
> > able to explore the drive from my computer? Its a OneTouch III 2.0 usb
> > 200gb
> > Thanks.....- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Maxtor does not have a link for such download......... Am I missing
something???

One of my mobos enables me to use the SATA drive as the primary drive - as a
SATA. It has a section in the BIOS that lets me list the harddrives. I
noticed I could change the order. If I put the SATA first, then it shows up
as first choice among the harddrives for booting. Check the BIOS again .. if
you have those options it would be easy to overlook.

Saucy Lemon


"Adam Albright" <AA@ABC.net> wrote in message
news:qtblv2hc41qa9mapa1qc6sec92as154vtm@4ax.com...
> On 16 Mar 2007 07:42:21 -0700, BEN@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM wrote:
>
>>I have a brand new dell laptop. It has vista. My old computer was XP
>>and I am trying to move over some certain files, (music and pictures)
>>from the external hard drive to the vista system. I plugged in the EXT
>>HD and vista accepted it without any problems. It shows up with the
>>correct name in the USB device list but for the life of me it will not
>>show up in "my computer"
>>I have completed windows update......
>>
>>Maxtor says, "We can't help you with this issue"
>>
>>Please help me if you can!
>
> I feel your pain...
>
> For example I have a perfectly good Seagate SATA drive, if I install
> it ALONE as an Internal Vista sees it. If I install a second SATA
> drive unless I humble it down to IDE mode Vista won't see it. If I
> take the same drive and put it in a external case again Vista won't
> see it, this time not even if it is alone unless I disable the SATA
> connector and plug it in using USB 2.0. I've seen simular issues in XP
> where Windows is too dumb to see a external drive regardless how it is
> connected, it will show as 0 bytes and won't be accepted unless you
> reformat. The same drive placed in another Windows box runs perfectly.
> Go Figure.
>
> USB devices can at times be a pain in the butt. Try this:
>
> Shutdown. Turn off your external drive (assuming it has an exteranl
> power source). Now leave it off. Reboot your laptop. Wait till Windows
> comes up and it settles down. Now turn on your external drive, then
> wait a few seconds and only now plug in the USB cable into your
> laptop. In a couple seconds or less you should hear a audio cue and
> Windows should respond probably with autorun or some menu showing your
> drive.
>
> Now I'm a old hand with Maxtor external drives. If yours is more than
> a year old and you still can't get it to work, you may wish to do what
> I did years back.
>
> While it will void the warranty if you can't get your data and Maxtor
> won't help, just carefully open the case. Depending on model it can be
> a little tricky. Once you do, you'll see a plain vanilla IDE drive
> inside. It should be just pushed onto a very cheesy, very little
> circuit card not much bigger then a matchbook. Carefully remove the
> power connector and wiggle the drive free from the circut card. It
> should only take slight effort. Do NOT use brute force. Now how you
> proceed next depends on how valiable your data is.
>
> I would simply take the now free drive and attach it to a IDE cable
> and plug it into another computer, then see if the drive itself is ok,
> which it probably is, then copy your data. Now that it on a different
> system, since you laptop probably doesn't have a easy means to connect
> to the outside word, it would probably be worth your while to pick up
> something like LapLink that comes with a set of cables and software
> that makes it a easy job to transfer files back and forth from one
> computer to another.
>
> What went wrong? Probably not Windows this time. What failed is the
> little circuit card in the Maxtor external. All the stress the cheap
> card gets when you plug in and yank out the connector sooner or later
> damages this circuit card unless you are always exceedingly gentle.
> You'll find all kinds of horor stories on the web about the Maxtor
> external early models, even Maxtor admitted as much.
>

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:14:32 -0400, "Saucy Lemon"
<yadda.yadda@yadda.yadda> wrote:

>One of my mobos enables me to use the SATA drive as the primary drive - as a
>SATA. It has a section in the BIOS that lets me list the harddrives. I
>noticed I could change the order. If I put the SATA first, then it shows up
>as first choice among the harddrives for booting. Check the BIOS again .. if
>you have those options it would be easy to overlook.
>
>Saucy Lemon

The problem is I don't have the same BIOS, besides my Boot drive where
Vista is on is on a IDE drive, so it needs to boot first. Perhaps I
wasn't clear. I have three hard drives internally. My first physical
drive is a 300 GB divided into 2 partitions, C and E (D is my DVD
burner) this runs fine off the system's only IDE channel. The 2 SATA
drives F and G run off a SEPERATE SATA controller which supports up to
6 devices, plus there is a third build-in SATA controller that
supports 2 more SATA devices. Any of the SATA controllers can also run
in RAID or IDE mode. I have no need for RAID and IDE is so much
slower. I just got back from Fry's looking for a SATA controller card
to drop in one of my free slots and while they had a pretty good
assortment none say they support Vista, so I passed.
>
>
>"Adam Albright" <AA@ABC.net> wrote in message
>news:qtblv2hc41qa9mapa1qc6sec92as154vtm@4ax.com...
>> On 16 Mar 2007 07:42:21 -0700, BEN@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM wrote:
>>
>>>I have a brand new dell laptop. It has vista. My old computer was XP
>>>and I am trying to move over some certain files, (music and pictures)
>>>from the external hard drive to the vista system. I plugged in the EXT
>>>HD and vista accepted it without any problems. It shows up with the
>>>correct name in the USB device list but for the life of me it will not
>>>show up in "my computer"
>>>I have completed windows update......
>>>
>>>Maxtor says, "We can't help you with this issue"
>>>
>>>Please help me if you can!
>>
>> I feel your pain...
>>
>> For example I have a perfectly good Seagate SATA drive, if I install
>> it ALONE as an Internal Vista sees it. If I install a second SATA
>> drive unless I humble it down to IDE mode Vista won't see it. If I
>> take the same drive and put it in a external case again Vista won't
>> see it, this time not even if it is alone unless I disable the SATA
>> connector and plug it in using USB 2.0. I've seen simular issues in XP
>> where Windows is too dumb to see a external drive regardless how it is
>> connected, it will show as 0 bytes and won't be accepted unless you
>> reformat. The same drive placed in another Windows box runs perfectly.
>> Go Figure.
>>
>> USB devices can at times be a pain in the butt. Try this:
>>
>> Shutdown. Turn off your external drive (assuming it has an exteranl
>> power source). Now leave it off. Reboot your laptop. Wait till Windows
>> comes up and it settles down. Now turn on your external drive, then
>> wait a few seconds and only now plug in the USB cable into your
>> laptop. In a couple seconds or less you should hear a audio cue and
>> Windows should respond probably with autorun or some menu showing your
>> drive.
>>
>> Now I'm a old hand with Maxtor external drives. If yours is more than
>> a year old and you still can't get it to work, you may wish to do what
>> I did years back.
>>
>> While it will void the warranty if you can't get your data and Maxtor
>> won't help, just carefully open the case. Depending on model it can be
>> a little tricky. Once you do, you'll see a plain vanilla IDE drive
>> inside. It should be just pushed onto a very cheesy, very little
>> circuit card not much bigger then a matchbook. Carefully remove the
>> power connector and wiggle the drive free from the circut card. It
>> should only take slight effort. Do NOT use brute force. Now how you
>> proceed next depends on how valiable your data is.
>>
>> I would simply take the now free drive and attach it to a IDE cable
>> and plug it into another computer, then see if the drive itself is ok,
>> which it probably is, then copy your data. Now that it on a different
>> system, since you laptop probably doesn't have a easy means to connect
>> to the outside word, it would probably be worth your while to pick up
>> something like LapLink that comes with a set of cables and software
>> that makes it a easy job to transfer files back and forth from one
>> computer to another.
>>
>> What went wrong? Probably not Windows this time. What failed is the
>> little circuit card in the Maxtor external. All the stress the cheap
>> card gets when you plug in and yank out the connector sooner or later
>> damages this circuit card unless you are always exceedingly gentle.
>> You'll find all kinds of horor stories on the web about the Maxtor
>> external early models, even Maxtor admitted as much.
>>

I couldn't find it either. I'd say call or send them an e-mail. It's beyond
me why they wouldn't make this utility available on the website.

<BEN@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM> wrote in message
news:1174066729.139171.198920@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> On Mar 16, 11:52 am, "LaRoux" <h...@newsgroup.nospam> wrote:
>> The backup software (Retrospect Express) is separate from the drive
>> password
>> software. If you don't have the software available anymore, try
>> downloading
>> it from Maxtor.
>>
>> <B...@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM> wrote in message
>>
>> news:1174062904.597516.319510@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> > Thanks, I will try that.
>> > Now......I do not have the back-up software any more. Will I still be
>> > able to explore the drive from my computer? Its a OneTouch III 2.0 usb
>> > 200gb
>> > Thanks.....- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> Maxtor does not have a link for such download......... Am I missing
> something???
>
>

If you are talking about Retrospect Express backup software, you should be
able to see and manipulate the files created with Retrospect even if you do
not have Retrospect installed on your system. I am able to do that without
any problem.

--
Leo

For every difficult and complicated question there is an answer
that is simple, easily understood, and wrong.
H.L. Mencken








<BEN@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM> wrote in message
news:1174062904.597516.319510@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> On Mar 16, 10:55 am, "LaRoux" <h...@newsgroup.nospam> wrote:
>> I have a external Maxtor one-touch drive and ran into this same behavior
>> before I remembered that it was password protected with the Maxtor
>> software.
>> I hooked it up to the old XP system where I had the software installed,
>> removed the password, moved it back to the Vista machine and viola, it
>> worked.
>>
>> <B...@FIRSTPLACERENTAL.COM> wrote in message
>>
>> news:1174056141.426688.57960@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> >I have a brand new dell laptop. It has vista. My old computer was XP
>> > and I am trying to move over some certain files, (music and pictures)
>> > from the external hard drive to the vista system. I plugged in the EXT
>> > HD and vista accepted it without any problems. It shows up with the
>> > correct name in the USB device list but for the life of me it will not
>> > show up in "my computer"
>> > I have completed windows update......
>>
>> > Maxtor says, "We can't help you with this issue"
>>
>> > Please help me if you can!- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> Thanks, I will try that.
> Now......I do not have the back-up software any more. Will I still be
> able to explore the drive from my computer? Its a OneTouch III 2.0 usb
> 200gb
> Thanks.....
>