Maxtor External Hard drive

#43 fan · May 28th, 2008, 07:42 PM

A Maxtor external hard drive is seeming to be interfering with other devices on this computer. It is a Maxtor Personal Storage 3100 (100 GB) with a USB connection.
The problem is that when the hard drive is plugged in, the Lexmark printer is not able to print or view pictures on the SD card.
On a laptop with Vista, the drive must be plugged in numerous times to be recognized and after it is recognized, the computer is knocked off the internet, possibly the entire network.
So, any ideas?

osprey4 · May 28th, 2008, 08:06 PM

Two ideas come to mind:
1. Make sure each device is plugged directly into a port with adequate power. Normally, XP will warn you, but not always.
2. Try setting the Maxtor to a higher drive letter, like M. You can do this in disk management.

#43 fan · May 28th, 2008, 08:10 PM

I changed the drive letter, no luck.
The USB ports have adequate power, the Maxtor has an AC Adapter.
Any other ideas?

osprey4 · May 29th, 2008, 01:45 PM

Replace it. If you're having trouble with this drive on multiple systems, as cheap as external drives are, I'm not sure how much hassle I'd be willing to put up with. For $50, you could get a 200GB drive.

BipolarBill · May 29th, 2008, 06:46 PM

Agreed. It's going bad.

#43 fan · May 29th, 2008, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BipolarBill

Agreed. It's going bad.

The drive itself works. But when it's with the printer, the printer does not.

BipolarBill · May 29th, 2008, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by #43 fan

On a laptop with Vista, the drive must be plugged in numerous times to be recognized and after it is recognized, the computer is knocked off the internet, possibly the entire network.

That is why we say it's bad.

The SD card is a drive. It needs a dedicated letter or the Maxtor and it will keep bumping each other off. Set the SD drive to letter H.

Are these items connected directly to the PC or are they running thru a hub or PCI card?

#43 fan · May 29th, 2008, 07:49 PM

Directly on the PC. Back and front ports do not make a difference.

BipolarBill · May 29th, 2008, 08:13 PM

Then the IDE to USB interface (converter) in the unit is going bad and straining the entire USB chain. We're back to the original answer - the drive enclosure circuitry (not the drive itself) is wonky.

You could disassemble the drive and keep the disk itself and insert it in another drive enclosure or dump the whole thing. It's up to you.

Nutzojoe · March 10th, 2009, 07:01 AM

I think i have a bad enclosure on my hard drive it is a dual hard drive and the 2 500gb hardd drives have been ported together to make a 1 tb drive. I have had a few people tell me that I have to get an encloser from Maxtor so it will see both drives. Dose anyone know if this is true? Can i put them in another dual hard drive case and plug it in? I have a bunch of data on the drives and i think its still there just cant get it off. Anyone have any help?
joe