Maxtor Drive Died

FuturesTrader71

FuturesTrader71

Hi guys,

My Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB hard drive decided to bite the dirt today. Per tech support, I ran the PowerMax utility which couldn't even access the drive. The drive makes this loud whining noise for about 30 seconds and then becomes unresponsive. I called Maxtor TS back and they said that the drive has to be replaced.

It is under warranty, but there are some serious shortcomings to the service provided. First, I have to pay to ship it to them. Second, they will only replace it with a refurbished drive that will have a warranty that ends when my current drive's warranty ends.

My questions:

1. Does any other drive manufacturer offer a better warranty (replacement with a new drive.... preferably a newer version than the one that died)?

2. Can anyone recommend a data recovery service?

3. If you have 140 GB of data on the drive, where is that data recovered to?

Thanks.
 
Quote from FuturesTrader71:

Hi guys,

My Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB hard drive decided to bite the dirt today. Per tech support, I ran the PowerMax utility which couldn't even access the drive. The drive makes this loud whining noise for about 30 seconds and then becomes unresponsive. I called Maxtor TS back and they said that the drive has to be replaced.

It is under warranty, but there are some serious shortcomings to the service provided. First, I have to pay to ship it to them. Second, they will only replace it with a refurbished drive that will have a warranty that ends when my current drive's warranty ends.

My questions:

1. Does any other drive manufacturer offer a better warranty (replacement with a new drive.... preferably a newer version than the one that died)?

2. Can anyone recommend a data recovery service?

3. If you have 140 GB of data on the drive, where is that data recovered to?

Thanks.
More...

wouldnt touch a refurb drive. data is too important and too big a hassle to take that short cut. maxtor seems to have a lot of problems. i like wd drives.
you could try one more thing. unattach the drive hook it up as a slave and bang it on something hard to see if it will start. i have been able to get drives going one last time and get the data off in the past doing that. its a long shot but could work. professional data recovery is expensive.
 
Quote from FuturesTrader71:

Hi guys,

My Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB hard drive decided to bite the dirt today. Per tech support, I ran the PowerMax utility which couldn't even access the drive. The drive makes this loud whining noise for about 30 seconds and then becomes unresponsive. I called Maxtor TS back and they said that the drive has to be replaced.

It is under warranty, but there are some serious shortcomings to the service provided. First, I have to pay to ship it to them. Second, they will only replace it with a refurbished drive that will have a warranty that ends when my current drive's warranty ends.

My questions:

1. Does any other drive manufacturer offer a better warranty (replacement with a new drive.... preferably a newer version than the one that died)?

2. Can anyone recommend a data recovery service?

3. If you have 140 GB of data on the drive, where is that data recovered to?

Thanks.
More...



I've used this company with good results. Cheap, fast, and easy to work with.

http://www.nationwidedatarecovery.com/

You can have the data transfered to either DVD media or another hard drive if you furnish them with one.

I don't worry myself with the warranties. I buy drives when they are dirt cheap with rebates and keep them on a self until needed. The shipping on the bad drives will cost you more than the drive in most cases, and as you state, you receive a rebuilt unit in return; so why even bother.

FYI, I currently have two WD 200GB I picked up for $40 each configured in RAID. One goes out, I get another one from the self and I'm back in business within an hour. Important files are also backed up to an external drive as a precaution. It only takes one drive failure to realize spare drives and data backup are a no-brainer.

st
 
1) Backup your data. Hard drives are cheap. Buy a couple and place them in a RAID or backup to an extenal USB2 drive. NO Drive is 100% reliable. You will lose data someday.

2) Maxtor quality is going down fast. Built a new machine in February. One of the Maxtor SATA 300GB drives dies less than 2 weeks later. Even though it was within a month, maxtor sent me a refurb drive. I now use the refurb drive for junk and replaced it with a Western Digital.

3) Restoring 140GB from a drivesavers type company will cost you a few thousands and is not always complete.
 
Quote from davewtrader:


3) Restoring 140GB from a drivesavers type company will cost you a few thousands and is not always complete. [/B]
More...


The link I provided in an earlier post is a data recovery company I have used in the past. The maximum price they charge is $459 and they are quite good at getting all of the data according to my own experience, experience of others I have recommended the company to, and of numerous others who have posted on various geek forums. As you state, most data recovery firms charge a minimum of a $1000, and $2-3K is typical for a full recovery. I have no idea why the florida service is so much cheaper than most, but they get the job done, sometimes for as low as $99!

Just a happy customer.

st
 
Gosh.... you guys are full of good news.

I'm hearing the line from Chris Rock's stand-up where he yells out "lie to me, Jerry... Lie to me!" If you haven't seen his stand-ups, don't worry about it (funny as hell though).

Anyway, it has been a pretty lousy day overall. The Maxtor was actually an option I naively chose for a replacement on a Seagate that was out of stock. I know now that Maxtor is a POS. This WAS my backup drive with a bunch of additional videos, install programs, etc. My main drive is running fine (it is a WD, in fact). I think I will take the new drive, pawn it off as used and will be ordering a new drive in the meantime. Prices have gone down quite a bit.

As far as data recovery, I won't bother. I will try Vehn's suggestion to throw it against a brick wall and see if it still works ( :D ). Some poor soul will probably get it as a warranty replacement later this year.

I didn't lose anything of substantial value. I shadow my drives with my laptop before I travel and I just got back from a trip last night, so a lot has been salvaged since my last ghosting.

Thanks a lot fellows. It is good to hear that this is a Maxtor problem. I will avoid them in the future. In fact, I will short their stock tomorrow morning. :)

Take care.
 
I've lost 3 MXO drives in the past 2 1/2 years and now my 4th and final one is starting to sound like a distant table saw. :(

Quantum used to be good then was absorbed into MXO now Seagate has merged with them so who does that leave any more.

Every night I copy my data in quadruplicate using Acronis and a combo of RAID, EIDE internal and USB external drives. I figure if any one drive fails I've got 3 more copies and all I lose is time, not data.

Waht else can you do. Consider a year about the average running time if you're lucky.
 
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