Maxtor Basic Desktop Drive Issue

[welby]

Hi all,

here's a quandry I'm in....

I inadvertantly removed my Maxtor USB hard drive without first removing the drive by the "Safely Remove The Hardware" method and when I plugged it back in the OS reported the drive as requiring "formatting", which is complete nonsense as when I plug the HD into another laptop it comes up straight away with no errors.

This is happened to me in Vista and Windows 7 on several occaisions

The laptop that "revives" the drive is running XP Pro SP 3.

Yes I know I should always eject the drive before removing, but sometimes when under pressure I have pulled the plug inadvertanty and bosh the disk drive wont work stating, please format this drive.

Correct me if I am wrong but it must affect the MBR in some way, but on the laptop with XP on, it must be more tolerant and read or repair the MBR.

When I put the HD back in my playout Laptop it comes up as you would expect. I have checked the disk for erros and nothing is found.

How weird is that? I was wondering if anyone else had experienced this and whether it just affects Maxtor brand of drives?

I was wondering if there is a programme that can rebuild the MBR with little fuss as when I am out I do not want any issues, even if they are caused by one slip of memory on my part.

Thanks

[Vectis]

FAT32 I presume?

[welby]

FAT32 I presume?

No NTFS - It's baffled me for ages

I'm beginning to wonder if it's NTFS thats the problem...

[discomobiledj]

This happened with my Maxtor Basic as well, have you tried using a different USB cable? The cables supplied with the drive are not very robust but I found using a better quality cable sorted this out.

[welby]

This happened with my Maxtor Basic as well, have you tried using a different USB cable? The cables supplied with the drive are not very robust but I found using a better quality cable sorted this out.

Yes tried swapping them for others but no difference.

I have the drive policies set to Quick Removal so that no cache is written to the disk as default, so I should be able to remove the drive without using the Safely Remove Hardware notification.

I don't think i'm alone on this one, on the seagate forums others are getting the same issue. But I can't see anyone offereing a fix.

Some are suggesting a firmware upgrade, but I can't find any firmware updates as downloads.

Thanks both for the replies.

[welby]

Sent email to seagate support - I wont hold my breath! lol

[Creature]

the comp u just pulled it out of you will need to clear out the remove hardware or use a very good regestry cleaner - reboot and it should work

but before you try anything back up ya drive onto ya laptop 1st

Please remember the rules on text talk. This is the second time today. Next post will be deleted. Admin.

[CRAZY K]

Yes tried swapping them for others but no difference.

I have the drive policies set to Quick Removal so that no cache is written to the disk as default, so I should be able to remove the drive without using the Safely Remove Hardware notification.

I don't think i'm alone on this one, on the seagate forums others are getting the same issue. But I can't see anyone offereing a fix.

Some are suggesting a firmware upgrade, but I can't find any firmware updates as downloads.

Thanks both for the replies.

I have used Seagates for years with the Cortex and until recently always disconnected WITHOUT using the safety removal facility on the Cortex

Never had a problem of any kind.

It was only when Peter mentioned this on a post about 9 months ago that I was aware you are supposed to do it

Mind you im using Cortex not a laptop---we wont go there

CRAZY K

[ppentertainments]

I have used Seagates for years with the Cortex and until recently always disconnected WITHOUT using the safety removal facility on the Cortex

Is there a safety removal on the cortex Normally I use the power button . I always use powered hard drives though, but even then there is one mains plug coming out my console which is unplugged thus 'switching off' the harddrive - never had a problem though

[Excalibur]

Is there a safety removal on the cortex Normally I use the power button . I always use powered hard drives though, but even then there is one mains plug coming out my console which is unplugged thus 'switching off' the harddrive - never had a problem though

The "eject device" option. If you're running NTFS, because like me you want safety and reliability above absolute performance, I'd guess it doean't matter a jot. I do try to eject both sides before shutting down, as I see no reason to tempt fate.