Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini 120GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive Logo

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Posted on Feb 28, 2017
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I have a Maxtor One Touch 4 Mini 120GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive, I've previously used it multiple times in the past, importing AND exporting data. For some reason though after using it on one computer to back up data and later copying it over to the newly reformated computer, now whenever I plug it into the USB port of a computer it won't detect the external hard drive. The light on the external hard drive lights up and I can hear it running but the computers in my house refuse to detect it. It has the last remaining copy of many family photos and has many other important files on it that I'd much prefer not to lose. Could this be some sort of unlikely software problem within the hard drive or is it a hardware problem making it permanently unaccessable? I don't mind having to throw it out but I'd really want to recover those family photos and etc. P.S. The only 2 variables that I can think of that MAY possibly be slightly outside the normal use parameters is: 1. Data was backed up onto the external hard drive through a computer that was infected with several virus', but I believe I had the computer in safe mode at the time, but it's possible it wasn't. and 2. I am not using the original USB chord that was with the external hard drive, I'm using one with the same ports but the original was thicker and split off into 2 usb output ports as a option of hooking it up to two computers at once. (I don't think this would make a difference but the small things sometimes matter.)

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InHouseTeq

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  • Posted on Feb 28, 2017
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Try testing it in another computer. if you have the same problem. then there might be an issue with the drive.

to recover your data. unplug external drive from the computer and open the external hard drive case. remove the hard drive inside. with you computer off and disconnected from the wall open the case to your computer. look and see how the hard drive inside is connected in your computer and add the external the same way. you might need a cable to connect it. you can simply disconnect the cdrom and plug the hard drive instead. make sure the external hard drive is not touching any electronics inside the pc. now you can turn on the computer. give the computer a minute to detect the new drive and assign a drive letter. navigate to my computer and select the newly added hard drive. copy and paste all the data you want to save. after everything has been backed up format the external drive to clear any bugs that may be causing it to be recognised in its case.

when finished remove the hard drive, plug in the cdrom, close the case, plug back into the wall, and return external drive to its case.

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Anonymous

  • 32 Answers
  • Posted on May 05, 2009

SOURCE: Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini 160GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive

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.

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