That is not normal. It is possible it could work fine that away for a long time, but i doubt it. If it was me, I would copy my important stuff off and send it in to Maxtor under warranty. They generally have a really quick turn around time. I am talking like just a few days from when they recieve it. The last one I sent in i got back in less than a week.
Also realize that you wont get the same one back, so make sure there is nothing you cant lose. They will send you the same model or possibly even a higher model back. I sent in a 20 GB a few months ago and got back a 30 GB. I was happy.