I can not open my maxtor 160gb, all I can hear is cliking coming from it

use an external usb ide( or if your hdd is sata,then use a sata cable)then insert to a working computer then you can copy your files

You could try to format it by right clicking its drive icon in My Computer. If no go then perhaps download and use Seatools. It is easy to use and instructions are very clear:- http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=seatools-win-eula&vgnextoid=d0d51d4dad651110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=ot4-mini&vgnextoid=7fd5783de3444110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD

If it still has a valid warranty, exercise the warranty to get a free replacement.

Otherwise, open the enclosure, and separate the disk-drive from the USB-to-disk-drive adapter, and connect the disk-drive as a 'slave' disk-drive in a desktop computer, to see if the adapter was the problem.

Hmmm What software do you need?
You should not need software to run the HDD. Just plug it in.
You can get the One Touch software from Seagate (who no own Maxtor) See
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=ot4-downloads&vgnextoid=0ed72c9e46914110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD
HTH

I've had this problem before (something similar) you'll need additional software from Maxtor.com so you're PC will recognize the new drive.

go to my computer p[roperty then hardware -> device amnager then uninstall usb drivers from it then install aagain.
then connect your harddisk then it found.

First let's try going into disk management and see if we can see your maxtor drive. Plug it in then right click on my computer. From there click on manage and then select disk management.
This will give you a list of your drives. If the Maxtor is there, what is the status? Can you right click on it and activate it? If you don't see the drive then let's try the next step.
If you go into your device manager and select your Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Right click on your on the USB Universal Host controller and select uninstall. This will uninstall the USB Driver, but don't worry, oncfe you have uninstalled all the controllers, you will reboot the machine and then Windows will come back and reinstall all the usb controllers. Once this is complete then plug the drive back in and see if you still get the same issue. If none of that works....
Download a linux bootcd called SLAX http://www.slax.org/get_slax.php?download=iso
use nero to burn the iso to a cd and boot from it. Once you're in there, you SHOULD be able to recognize or at least see the drive. If you can then format the ****** from Slax. Once that's complete, you should be able to see it as a raw drive in Windows and then you can format it using explorer or a command prompt.

Let me know how this goes.

the ps3 does not support many external hard drives.

But they do accept USB Flash drives/thumb drives.

Yes you do. If you don't have them they are available from the manufacturer but for some reason they want you to email them with the serial number of the drive.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=ot4-mini&vgnextoid=7fd5783de3444110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD

erch.