Maxtor_logoI just got off the phone with Maxtor for at least the sixth time. Honestly, I’ve lost count of all the calls I’ve had to make. In February, I purchased their OneTouch II drive. For the record, you don’t want to purchase this drive. It’s been nothing but problems. The original hard drive didn’t work using the software they shipped with the drive. I had to call tech support and they made me install an older version of the software to run the backups. Of course, the older version eliminated the "one touch" feature which was one of the reasons I purchased the drive.

With that modification the backups worked for a while, but then my computer stopped recognizing the drive. After another tech call, they finally determined that the drive was bad and I needed a replacement.

After receiving the replacement drive, I again had to connect with tech support to try to get the hard drive to work on my system. (I have a Dell system that’s only about a year old by the way. It’s not like I’m trying to make it work on some old, no-name computer system.) Yesterday, I finally thought we were up and running. The test backup actually worked. But, this morning, I woke up to find that the scheduled backup failed. And, the computer stopped recognizing the drive…just like the first drive.

I called Maxtor back again this evening for tech support. They had me change the power management settings on my computer, plug the drive into a wall outlet instead of my surge protector and reboot the computer and the drive. The computer still doesn’t recognize the drive. And, after three months, I still don’t have backups. (Having thought I lost all my pictures of our daughter a few months ago, the thought of no backups really freaks me out.)

The Maxtor tech support people asked me to email them system files from my computer to trouble-shoot the issue. Rather than continuing to deal with this mess, I asked if they would just refund me the money if I shipped them back their two hard drives that don’t work on my Dell computer. They wouldn’t do that. So, I’m stuck with no backups and two Maxtor hard drives that don’t work on my system.

Frankly, I’m tired of messing with it. I’ve already invested too much time in this. It’s looking like I’m going to have to eat the $212 I paid for the drive and go purchase another hard drive. I don’t see why Maxtor is making this my problem. It seems like if their hard drive doesn’t work on my newer Dell computer running the most recent version of XP, the fact that their hard drive doesn’t work is actually their problem not mine.

Anyone had a better experience with an external hard drive from another company that I should check out? Looks like I need to go shopping again.

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