[DonnaMarilyn]

Yesterday my one-year-old Maxtor external HD stopped working. (No, it didn't fall or get knocked in any way.) My PC seemed to go on the blink as well, but went back to normal after I disconnected the Maxtor.

When I reconnect the Maxtor however it just makes a clicking noise every few seconds and an orange light flashes. The drive (L) doesn't show up at all on my computer. And I'm not able to re-boot the PC while the Maxtor is still connected.

Can anyone advise? Thanks!

Donna

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I had a similar problem with an old hard drive once. It started making a strange clicking noise and eventually stopped working. I just bought a new hard drive after i stupidly opened the drive up to try and "fix" it

[gibbocool]

I had a similar problem with an old hard drive once. It started making a strange clicking noise and eventually stopped working. I just bought a new hard drive after i stupidly opened the drive up to try and "fix" it

[DonnaMarilyn]

Oh dear. Doesn't sound good. The thing is, my Maxtor is only one year old. Plus I have valuable data on it. I presume it can be recovered?

Donna

[Doby]

Hi,

If the drive is making a clicking sound and the computer is unable to boot with it connected its bad and I doubt there is a way to recover the data other than a professional recovery service and thats expensive.

Sorry but at least I bumped your post maybe someone else will have a idea

Rick

[DonnaMarilyn]

Sure doesn't look good, does it. Thanks for bumping the post, Rick.
Are the clicking sound and the PC non-booting the sinister signs of an HD crash? I wonder what would have caused it.

Donna

[Doby]

Well Donna the clicking sound sure is a "sinister sign" as far as the nonboot if the drive is bad it could cause this to happen.

You could disconnect the drive and try to boot into bios if you can then only the drive is bad but if you can't then there could be other problems but I doubt that is the case.

Btw maxtor makes good drives I sometimes use them myself but they should last longer than a year, check your warrenty maybe its still coverd.

Rick

[Astrotrain]

You may not be able to boot from the drive, but you should have a good chance
of recovering your data.

Obtain another hdisk and rebuild your system -or- borrow another system
with a good bootable (and roomy) hdisk.

Hook your Maxtor up as a slave drive, and boot.

You should now be able to recover your data from your Maxtor providing the
bad sectors are not where your data is.

Remeber to look in your various C:\Program Files sub folders for your data and
C:\Windows\Favoirtes (for IE Bookmarks).

And of course your user directory 'Application Data'

For instance:

Windows XP Pro and Home --
C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data

Keep the old hdisk around and verify your recovered data on your new hdisk
or other system. After verification, contact Maxtor and request a replacement
if under warrenty.

[DonnaMarilyn]

Thanks for your feedback, Rick and Astrotrain.

Luckily I've just found my purchase receipt. I bought the Maxtor in November 2003 and the warranty is good for 24 months. I'll be interested to hear what Maxtor has to say.

My neighbour across the road is a data recovery expert, and he's offered to see if he can get mine back. I'll cross my fingers that he can do so and that Maxtor will replace the unit or reimburse me for it.

Oops. I've just noted that on the underside it states that the warranty is void if the unit is opened. Guess I'd better first take the Maxtor back to the place where I bought it to find out the procedure.

Donna

[Doby]

Your welcome and let us know what maxtor has to say when you explain to them that you are going to have a data recovery expert retrieve your stuff.

Rick

[Kemasa]

One thing that you can try is to get an exact match for the disk (sometimes non-exact matches work too) and replace the controller board on the disk. This does not involve opening the disk, which would void the warranty.

There are places which can recover the data, but most are very expensive.

For the future, I would suggest making backups, either on CD, DVD or getting an external HD. You can also get a removable drive tray, but most of those should not be installed unless the power to the machine is off.

[warriorscot]

Dude what are you doing resurecting 6 month old threads?

[Kemasa]

Opps, didn't notice, it was listed at the bottom of a current thread. I guess there is no timeframe on that :-).