How to fix an undetected or non-working Maxtor external hard drive without losing data

This page primarily focuses on resolving the issue of an unrecognized Maxtor external hard drive without losing any data. These solutions apply to various models of Maxtor external hard drives, including Maxtor 3200, Maxtor OneTouch 3, and Maxtor OneTouch 4.

Maxtor External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in Windows

Maxtor is a brand under Seagate Technology that manufactures various internal and external storage devices. It offers a range of products, such as the Maxtor OneTouch 4/3/2, Maxtor Z1 Solid State Drive, Maxtor M3 Portable External Hard Drive, and Maxtor D3 Station External Hard Drive, catering to individual users and business owners for data storage purposes.

Just like with Seagate external hard drives, users of Maxtor storage devices may also encounter various issues when saving data or transferring files on Windows or Mac computers. If you're experiencing the same problems, don't worry:

Scenario 1 - "My Maxtor external hard drive won't open on PC. How can I access it and retrieve all data?" Scenario 2 - "My computer is not detecting the Maxtor USB drive. There's no display on my PC at all. How do I fix this issue?" Scenario 3 - "My Maxtor external hard drive is not recognized or detected by my computer. How can I make it detectable again?"

What would you do if your Maxtor external hard drive won't open or show up on your computer? If you're using a Maxtor D3/One Touch or a Maxtor portable USB drive, how will you fix the problem? Is the Maxtor external hard drive or USB drive still being detected?

The following procedures will enable you to get your Maxtor external or internal hard drive working again without losing any data.

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If you're experiencing similar issues with your hard drive, you can try the solution outlined below directly.

How to Fix Hard Drive Not Showing Up Issue in Windows

What to do if the internal or external hard drive, whether it's new or old, is not showing up in File Explorer or Disk Management? Learn how to make the hard drive display again in Windows 10/8/7 without losing data from the methods below.

First, check the status of the Maxtor external hard drive.

Before troubleshooting the unrecognized Maxtor external hard drive issue, first open File Explorer and Disk Management in Windows to check its status, identify the specific problem you're encountering, and find an appropriate solution to fix the Maxtor drive issue.

Step 1: Connect your Maxtor portable hard drive to your computer.

Step 2. Double-click on “This PC” or “My Computer” to open File Explorer.

Step 3: Verify that the device appears.

If the Maxtor hard drive is showing but not opening or requires formatting, first try to recover data using a reliable recovery software.

If the Maxtor drive does not appear or is not recognized, proceed to Step 4 to check its status in Disk Management.

Step 4. Right-click the “Windows” icon and select “Disk Management” to open it.

Step 5: Check its status in "Disk Management":

If your Maxtor external hard drive or USB shows RAW or Unallocated, first go to Maxtor External Hard Drive Recovery to recover data.

If your Maxtor drive is showing up as unknown, offline, no media, or new volume, try the troubleshooting solutions.

If the Maxtor internal or external hard drive is not showing up in Disk Management at all, then take it to a local device repair center. You would need a manual hard drive recovery service for assistance.

Recover Data from Maxtor External Hard Drive for Ensuring Data Safety

Applies to: Recover data from inaccessible, unreadable, RAW, unallocated Maxtor internal/external hard drive and prevent data loss.

To prevent further data loss, we recommend you take immediate action to retrieve data from your Maxtor external or internal hard drive. You need a powerful tool like the Data Recovery Wizard, which can be used to recover lost data from HDD, SSD, external hard drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, and more.

Data Recovery Wizard makes it easy to scan and recover everything from your Maxtor external hard drive or USB drive.

Three Easy Steps to Recover Data from Maxtor External/ Internal Hard Drive

Step 1. Connect your external hard drive to the computer with the right USB cable. Run Data Recovery Wizard, and you will see your external disk under "External Drives". This software supports all popular external disk brands, including WD, Seagate, Toshiba, LaCie, SanDisk, Samsung, etc.

Select your external hard drive, then click the “Scan” button.

Step 2: As the scan progresses, the software will find more and more of your lost and deleted data, displaying it in the scan results. The recovered data is well organized. You can quickly locate your target files/folders by file type, or search for the exact filename in the search box.

Step 3. You can preview the files found by the scanning algorithm of the Data Recovery Wizard. Then, select the files you wish to recover and click 'Restore'. To avoid overwriting your data, we recommend saving the recovered data to a different drive than the original Seagate drive.

Remember to save the recoverable data to another secure location to avoid further data loss. After retrieving crucial files from the Maxtor external hard drive, proceed to the next part to choose a reliable solution to get your device up and running. Also, don't forget to share this file recovery software on social media to help others easily reclaim their lost data.

13 Ways to Fix a Non-Working Maxtor External Hard Drive

Applies To: Fix Maxtor external hard drive not recognized, not working or not showing up issues on Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista and so on.

In this part, you'll learn several practical methods to get Windows to recognize your Maxtor external hard drive or to get a Maxtor internal hard drive working again:

1. Change the USB Port 2. Change the Drive Letter 3. Initialize the Maxtor Hard Drive and Create a New Partition 4. Activate the Maxtor Hard Drive Online 5. Enable Legacy USB Support in BIOS 6. Disable USB Selective Suspend Setting 7. Uninstall or Reinstall Disk Drivers 8. Check for Disk Errors with Error Checking or CHKDSK Command 9. Fix Bad Sectors 10. Format the Maxtor External Hard Drive 11. Run the Windows Troubleshooter 12. Update Windows to the Latest Version 13. Remove Viruses

Note: If your Maxtor hard drive or external USB drive is not recognized or is not showing, try Methods 1 through 7 to get your drive to display or be detected again.

If your Maxtor or other brand Internal/External hard drive is not working, try methods 8-13 to get your drive up and running again.

Fix 1: Change the USB port and restart your computer in Safe Mode

Since the Maxtor USB hard drive connects to the computer with a USB cable, trying another USB port on your computer might help if the storage device is not being recognized:

Step 1. Connect the Maxtor external drive or USB to another USB port on your computer. Try all available USB ports to see if it will show up.

Step 2. Try connecting the Maxtor drive to another computer, such as one belonging to a family member or colleague. Does the drive appear normally?

Step 3 Unscrew the case of the computer and connect the Maxtor hard drive to one of the USB ports on the motherboard at the back of the case.

If you find nothing, that's okay. Restart your computer and boot into Safe Mode:

Step 1. Go to Settings and click on Update & Security.

Step 2: Click on “Recover,” then “Advanced startup,” and then “Restart now.”

Step 3. The computer should now boot to another "Boot Menu" screen. Press F4 to boot into Safe Mode.

Then check whether the Maxtor portable hard drive or USB flash drive is detected or recognized by the computer.

Fix 2: Change the Drive Letter

When a Maxtor external or internal hard drive doesn't have a drive letter and only shows up as a new volume in Disk Management, it won't be detected by the Windows File Explorer.

You need to assign a drive letter to the device using Disk Management.

Step 1. Connect the Maxtor external hard drive to your computer and launch Disk Management.

Step 2: Right-click on the Maxtor partition and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths".

Step 3: In the new window, click Change. Assign a new drive letter to the USB device and click OK.

Fix 3: Create a new partition

If your Maxtor hard drive is showing up as Unallocated or Unknown in Disk Management, it won't be detected by Windows Explorer. You'll need to initialize the disk and create a new partition on it to make it usable again.

Initialize hard drive:

Step 1: Connect the Maxtor hard drive to your computer and launch Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click on the unallocated, unknown external hard drive and select Initialize Disk.

Step 3: Next, initialize the disk and set it to either MBR or GPT format.

Create New Partition on Maxtor Hard Drive

Step 1. Connect the Maxtor external hard drive to your computer and launch Disk Management.

Step 2: Right-click the unallocated space, and then select New Simple Volume.

Step 3: Assign a new drive letter, file system, and size to the new volume.

Step 4: Follow the on-screen instructions.

Fix 4. Maxtor Hard Drive Not Showing Up Online

When a Maxtor external or internal hard drive is offline in Disk Management, it also fails to show in Windows File Explorer. You can follow these steps to set the hard drive online via Disk Management:

Step 1. Connect the Maxtor hard drive or external device to your computer and launch Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click on the Maxtor drive and select [Online].

Fix 5: Enable Legacy USB support in BIOS

If a Maxtor hard drive is not enabled in the BIOS, the computer motherboard will not detect it. As a result, Windows will not recognize it either.

Here are the steps to enable Maxtor hard drive support over USB in the BIOS:

Step 1. Restart your computer and press F2/F8/F11 to enter BIOS.

2. Click on the “Advanced” tab, then select “USB Settings”.

Step 3: Select “Legacy USB Support,” and set its status to “Enabled.” Save the changes and exit.

Fix 6: Disable USB Selective Suspend setting

Step 1: Type power plan in the Windows search box, and then press Enter.

Step 2. Go to Power Options > Change Plan Settings > Change Advanced Power Settings.

Step 3: Expand "USB Settings" > "USB Selective Suspend Setting" > "Settings" > "Disabled".

Step 4: Click OK > Apply to save the changes.

Fix 7: Uninstall or reinstall disk drive and USB controller drivers

If your hard drive driver is outdated, you might also not be able to view or locate the Maxtor device on your computer. You can update your disk drivers and USB controller to make the Maxtor external or internal hard drive detectable again:

Update the disk driver:

Step 1. Right-click on "This PC" or "My Computer," and select "Manage."

In the Computer Management window, click Device Manager.

Step 3. Expand the “Disk Drives” section, right-click on the unallocated hard drive, and select “Update Driver.”

Update the hard drive driver:

Step 4: Select Search automatically for updated driver software.

Update the USB controller:

Step 1: Open the Run dialog box (by pressing Win+R), type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter.

Step 2. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers > Right-click each USB device you find, and select Uninstall.

Check if any devices show up as unidentified:

If the Maxtor external hard drive is not recognized, go to the “Driver” tab and uninstall the driver; then check if the external hard drive appears in My Computer/This PC. If the disk appears and then disappears, repeat the steps above and go to Disk Management to change the drive letter for the Maxtor external hard drive or USB, reconnect it to the computer, and rescan for the Maxtor disk.

The above solutions are aimed at addressing the issue of Maxtor hard drive not being recognized or showing up. If your hard drive or external USB is detectable but cannot be opened or accessed, check and follow the troubleshooting steps below to get your drive back to working condition.

Fix 8: Check for disk errors

When your hard disk encounters disk errors or file system issues, it may become inaccessible. You can use the Disk Checker or the CHKDSK command to fix errors on your hard drive. Here's how: 1. **Open Command Prompt as Administrator:** - Press the `Win + X` keys together on your keyboard, then select "Command Prompt (Admin)" or "Windows Terminal (Admin)" if you're using Windows 11. 2. **Type the CHKDSK command:** In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press `Enter`: ``` chkdsk /f /r /x C: ``` Replace `C:` with the letter of the drive you want to check and repair. The `/f` switch tells CHKDSK to fix any errors it finds, `/r` scans for physical errors, and `/x` forces the drive to dismount before checking if necessary. 3. **Schedule the Check:** If the drive is in use, CHKDSK will prompt you to schedule the check for the next restart. Type `Y` and press `Enter` to confirm. 4. **Restart your Computer:** Your computer will now restart, and CHKDSK will run automatically during the startup process to scan and repair the disk. 5. **View the Results:** After the scan is complete, CHKDSK will display a report of any errors found and actions taken. If there were no errors, you'll see a message indicating that the file system is clean. 6. **Check Accessibility:** Once your computer has restarted, check if you can access the previously problematic files or directories. Remember, if you encounter severe issues, it might be necessary to seek professional assistance or consider data recovery tools. Also, always make sure to back up important data regularly to prevent potential data loss.

Use Disk Error Checking to check for disk errors

Step 1. Right-click on "This PC" / "My Computer" and select "Manage".

Step 2: In Disk Management, right-click on the Maxtor Portable Drive or USB drive and select Properties > Tools tab.

Step 3: Click the "Check" button under "Error Checking" to scan and fix file system errors on the drive.

4. Right-click the Maxtor hard drive, and then click Properties.

Step 5. Click Security > Edit > and check the boxes next to "Authenticated Users," "System," "Administrators," and "Users" under Allow.

Step 6: Click Apply and OK.

Use the CHKDSK CMD to Check for Disk Errors

Warning: The CHKDSK command can be used to fix inaccessible or corrupted storage devices, but it can lead to permanent data loss. Therefore, make sure to recover your data using the ultimate Data Recovery Wizard tool before applying this fix.

Follow the guidelines below to fix a non-working Maxtor external hard drive/USB using CMD:

Step 1: Type cmd in the Windows search box, and then press Enter.

Step 2. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

Step 3: Type diskpart, and press Enter.

4. Type: chkdsk g: /f /r /x (replace g: with the letter assigned to your Maxtor external drive), and press [Enter].

5. When the disk check is complete, type exit to quit the program.

Your Maxtor external hard drive or flash drive should now open and work normally.

Fix bad sectors

Fix the "Maxtor external hard drive not recognized" error with the help of a free partition manager software - Partition Master. Follow the guide:

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Free, right-click the partition that you want to check and choose "Check File System".

Step 2: Choose the way to check: Check Partition Properties, Call Windows Chkdsk to Repair Errors or Surface Test. Click "OK".

Step 3: Let the Disk Partition Master check and fix errors on your hard drive automatically. Click “OK” to finish the process.

Fix 10: Format Maxtor External Hard Drive

If your Maxtor portable hard drive or USB turns out to be RAW file system or becomes inaccessible, you have the flexibility to format it to NTFS or any other file system to make the device usable again:

Step 1: Open File Explorer on Windows, right-click on the inaccessible external or internal hard drive partition, and select “Format.”

Step 2. In the Format window, select the file system you need  — for a device, choose NTFS.

Step 3. Check the "Quick Format" box and click "Start".

Fix 11: Run the Windows Troubleshooter

Step 1: Open Settings and go to Update & Security.

2. Click “Troubleshoot,” then choose “Hardware and Devices.”

Click “Run the troubleshooter,” and wait for the process to finish.

4. After the scan is finished, select the issues you want to fix and click “Next”.

Fix 12: Update Windows to the latest version

Step 1: Go to “Settings” and then click on “Update & Security.”

Step 2. Click on “Windows Update” and then choose “Check for updates.”

If an update is available, click Install Now.

Check for and install Windows updates

Fix 13: Clean up viruses

Sometimes, an unknown virus or malware infection can also lead to data loss or issues with opening the storage device. If you encounter such problems, you can first download any virus cleaning tool to get rid of the virus.

Cleaning Virus:

Step 1. Download and install one of the following anti-virus programs on your computer.

① Norton AntiVirus; ② Kaspersky Anti-Virus; ③ Avast; ④ ESET NOD32 AntiVirus; ⑤ AVG.

Step 2: Connect the Maxtor device to the computer and run the antivirus program.

Step 3: Choose to scan and remove viruses and malware from the Maxtor hard drive or external hard drive.

Then you can try to open and check the files saved on the Maxtor storage device. If the files are lost, don't worry. The Data Recovery Wizard tool with reliable file recovery feature can help you.

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Conclusions

This article covers 13 solutions to help Maxtor users effectively resolve the issue of Maxtor external hard drive, Maxtor HDD/SSD, or USB drive not recognized, not showing up, or even not working on Windows computers.

If you have important files saved on the storage device, seek help from professional hard drive data recovery software. Data Recovery Wizard is one of them, always ready to lend a helping hand in saving your data.

"FAQ: Maxtor Hard Drive Not Showing Up Issues"

Some of you might have more issues with broken Maxtor or other brand storage devices. If you're one of them, check out the questions and answers below. You might find your answer and solution right here.

How do I access my Maxtor external hard drive?

What can you do if your external hard drive doesn't show up in File Explorer or Disk Management on Windows? Here are some suggestions:

• Unplug and properly reconnect the Maxtor external hard drive to your computer.
• Try a different USB port.
• Replace the USB cable and power cord.
• Initialize the Maxtor hard drive and create a new partition.
• Activate the Maxtor drive online.
• Enable legacy USB support in BIOS.
• Disable USB selective suspend settings.
• Uninstall or reinstall the disk drive's drivers.

2. How to fix the issue of Maxtor hard drive not working on Mac?

If you're a Mac user and your Maxtor external or internal hard drive isn't working on your Mac, try the following solutions:

• Reconnect the Maxtor external hard drive to your Mac.
• Try a different USB cable.
• Use a different USB port or connect the Maxtor external hard drive to another computer.
• Format the Maxtor drive or external hard drive for your Mac.
• Reset the NVRAM: Restart your Mac > Hold down Option + Command + P + R keys for 20 seconds > Release keys when the Mac restarts.
• Set your Maxtor external hard drive to show on your desktop: Finder > Preferences > General > Check External disks/hard drives.
• If none of these troubleshooting steps work, take your Maxtor external hard drive to a local repair center.

3. Why doesn't my Maxtor drive appear?

A Maxtor external hard drive might not be recognized for one of the following reasons:

• Connection issues
• External hard drive problems
• Corrupted or missing file system on the external hard drive
• Damaged system files in Windows 10 or Windows 11
• Physical damage to the Maxtor external hard drive