Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse I read this thread. I'm on my second 120gb drive in two days, both BRAND NEW. Both fail the Powermax diagnostics for partition read and SMART. Low level format fails and even though it says it can and did fix the errors it finds in the extended scan test, when you repeat the test, it fails again. Before I realized I had a problem, it took approx. three hours for the MaxBlast software to copy 15gb of data from my old to new drive. And then stranger still, I can't logon to Windows unless I have the old drive connected too???? Says "A problem is preventing Windows from accurately checking the license for this computer, 0x80090006." As long as the old drive is connected I can see and access all of the data I copied to the new drive but it's a nogo in standalone. I should have put more weight on the number of negative reviews I read at Newegg but I wanted a quiet drive.
I'm definitely glad for everyone that was able to save their data and benefit from this thread. I've benefitted greatly and appreciate all the info. Tomorrow the drives go back and no more Maxtor for me.