Maxtor 120GB Ext HDD USB2.0 - Formatting Issue

[GMunro1]

Maxtor 120GB Ext HDD USB2.0 - Formatting Issue

Have just bought a Maxtor External Drive.

OS: XP

I ran the RETROSPECT software (backuop software that comes with it) and tried a backup of a drive... it failed after about 2gb (Ext Drive was fat32). I then tried to delete the info from the drive but for some reason I couldn't get the info to display in explorer. The drive always stalled the PC from then on.

I have now tried repartitioning and reformatting using NTFS (partition 1)100GB and FAT32 (partition 2)12GB. This is the result.
- Can see both partitions in Disk Manager and Explorer
- Cannot format either of the drives.
The format gets to 100% then a popup message appears saying that it was unable to complete the format. Once I go back into explorer I can still see the drives but once I click on them it says they are unformatted.

Even when I try to format the whole drive as NTFS I still get the "Unable to complete format" error meesage when the format reaches 100%. I'm guessing that this is a Maxtor issue rather than a general HDD one.

This is a brand new HDD and this is happening. Any ideas

 

[temporello]

Try to use Maxtor's own utilities and if that fails return the HD!

 

[GMunro1]

Maxtor Utilities".... I can't seem to locate anything other than a low level format tool and I'm a bit apprehesive about using that on an EXTERNAL drive (as I still will have to have an internal connected.

I reinstalled VIA 4in1 drivers (so the enhanced drivers were installed and also re-applied a Microsoft patch (I'll supply KB # later).

I have noticed that I can format one partition to 4096mb in FAT (not FAT32), this being the maximum FAT size. However, any size greater OR different format fails. It may well be that the XP 'disk admin' and associated commands are not ...compatible....... I've tried this HDD on several PCs..all running XP..still have the problem.... The fact that I can format it using FAT suggests that the drive IS working ...but I can't isolate why it won't format to any other FS.

 

[temporello]

I think you mean Powermax.
It does perform a low level format,but it also offers a comprehensive test function.

 

[GMunro1]

I downloaded the MaxBlast 3 and tried to partition and format the drive. Basically, it says it's completed but I cannot access it as it is still seen as unformatted. i.e. even the MaxBlast 3 utility recommended by Maxtor failed to format the drive (no error message etc though). Maybe a duff boot sector ??!!