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Maxtor OneTouch external drive no longer accessible.

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I've got a Maxtor OneTouch III Mini external USB drive that I use at work for storing and transporting files.

Last week, they had to put a new hard drive in my company laptop computer, and although they said they restored as much of the original drive contents as they could, I can no longer access the Maxtor.

It shows up as working correctly in Device Manager, but it doesn't show up in My Computer and I just cannot access it any more!

I've tried uninstalling it and then plugging it back in, but after the computer displaying a message balloon that my new USB storage device is ready for use, it just can't be accessed.

I've looked on the Maxtor(Seagatea) site, but nothing about this problem and they have no software to download for that drive outside of backup software and that's not what I need.

It says that the drive contains all the needed software and will install itself when you plug it in, but it doesn't do anything when I plug it in now.

I see a folder named Maxtor in the Program Files, but there doesn't appear to be anything except a few text files in there. I assume that these have the password for the drive in them but no executable files are there.

I tried renaming and moving this folder, figuring the drive was looking for it, and might give me a prompt to reinstall the software if it doesn't see it, but no luck.

Is anyone able to help with this? I've spent some time searching the 'net' for a solution, but can find nothing that seems to be of help.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer some help!

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Check in the disk manager that it hasn't been assigned the same drive letter as a network drive.

Reply to gent

First off: It is a USB hard drive. Reformatting a computer will have no effect on the contents of the drive...

First question:
Was the drive plugged in when they reformatted your computer? Could have been a woops.

2.) Check Disk management to see the condition of the drive.
Right click on My Computer and select "manage". Select Disk Management. If the drive is reporting "unallocated space" it means it was reformatted, or data corruption occurred.

If the drive shows NTFS (or FAT32..) but no drive letter. Right click on the drive and assign it one.


Do these two things and get back to us.

Reply to CompTIA_Rep
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They didn't reformat the old drive...., they replaced it with a new drive. The way they do it here is they order a new drive, and then put what they call a 'standard build' on it with all the basic programs along with any job specific ones we request. Then, they back up what they can of your old settings and personal info, and put that back onto the new drive, and then install it into the laptop.

The Maxtor shows up in Device Manager as working, but when I go to My Computer and click on Manage...., it doesn't show up there at all. The light on it goes on when I plug it in, so it's getting power, but it doesn't show up anywhere except in Device Manager.

Reply to comrade

Ok. I understand what they did to your machine. We call it the COE, or common operating environment.


Anyway:
Because it only shows up in Device manager, that means the system does not detect it as a hard drive (mass storage device) but as a USB device.


You need to have the USB drivers updated. Depending on the age of the system, it may require bios updates as well.

The other option is that the drive is fried. (though unlikely because Device Manager should report issues with the device).

Note: there is no special drivers needed to use a Maxtor OneTouch.

Reply to CompTIA_Rep
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I had to deal with this similar problem once. The drive I encountered was password protected before we re-imaged the pc. I had to re-install the Maxtor software to un-protect the drive...

Reply to jonkc

The drive would still be recognizable as a drive though, encrypted or not. Either way, thats a great suggestion.

Reply to CompTIA_Rep
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I got through to a helpful technical support guy on Seagate/Maxtor's web site. He sent me a link to the software that I needed to reinstall. It works now.

The drive didn't come with a disk. Just the software on the drive that installed itself when you plugged it in the first time.

But...., it's all working now.

Thanks for the helpful suggestions!

Reply to comrade

That does not make an sense unless the drive was configured for a type of Encryption as Jonkc mentioned.

All Maxtor onetouch (1/2/3...) are plug and play. I use them for backups and for connecting them directly to my stereo for audio playback.

Reply to CompTIA_Rep
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Hi comrade,

I'm having the same problem, can u plz send me the link?
i would be great full to you.
thanks!

Reply to zandy1

Hi Comrade

Same problem...worked yesterday, dead today...lights are on but my Macs or PCs wont recognise it

Tech Support said it was a hardware issue...probably because it's out of warranty

If you have the link i would like to try it, just to see if it helps

Cheers


Reply to Khevcomm
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hi comrade,i got the same problem also can i have the link...any1 knows why when i use my maxtor on my macbook for quite sometimes and then when i plug to my pc it doesn't do anything when I plug it in now. :(

Reply to joo

CompTIA_Rep wrote :

That does not make an sense unless the drive was configured for a type of Encryption as Jonkc mentioned.

All Maxtor onetouch (1/2/3...) are plug and play. I use them for backups and for connecting them directly to my stereo for audio playback.



From a FAQ on Seagate's website:

Quote :


When moving my locked OneTouch 4 drive to another system, my drive is not recognized ...why?

The reason for this is because most likely the Maxtor Manager is not installed on the second system. To resolve this issue, you can do one of the following:

* Return your OneTouch 4 to the original system and remove DrivePass temporarily and move it to the second system

* Download the OneTouch 4 Installation software from Seagate's Website and install it on the second system. At which time, you can connect the OneTouch 4 drive to this system and unlock it.



This implies that a password-protected drive cannot auto-load its software utilities when connected to a new computer.

Reply to 55795642
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hi comrade
I have the same problem wherein the drive shows up only in device manager and not anywhere else. can u please send me the link to the software you were suggested?
thanks!

Reply to tushin
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comrade wrote :

I got through to a helpful technical support guy on Seagate/Maxtor's web site. He sent me a link to the software that I needed to reinstall. It works now.

The drive didn't come with a disk. Just the software on the drive that installed itself when you plugged it in the first time.

But...., it's all working now.

Thanks for the helpful suggestions!




could you sen me the link from seagate??? pplease

Reply to fnishat

Wow same problem here
Maxtor one touch is really not user friendly... Damn, shouldnt have bought it.
But still have to have it fixed to retrieve my collected precious....

PLease please post the link.....

PLEASE!!!

Reply to tinetine

I too am having the same problem. The drive appears in Disk Management, but without a volume (not drive letter). When I right click on it I am not presented with the option to assign it a drive letter. I too would be grateful for the link to the software.

THanks!

Reply to mparmitage
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Have you tried using a different power lead? My maxtor had similar problems and managed to fix it when I used a different power cord...

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Reply to d_tale
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