Rating: 
Summary: Reliable Drive
Review: The title says it all, my western digital started making funny noises, so i didn't want to take any chances and moved this drive up from backup to main... highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Maxtor 40 GB... Easy to install... Easy to use
Review: When I bought my computer three years ago, I got a 10 GB hard drive and thought that would be enough for a long time. Man, was I WRONG! After loading software after software, I discovered I was almost maxed out on my hard drive and I needed more! I began checking different makers and their hard drives. It seemed that every time I ran across an article about the Maxtor, the reviewer gave a glowing endorsement of this drive. So, I decided to try it. I got the drive in and began reading the manual. Simple to follow, answered all my questions. The diagrams and pictures were very helpful. It took me about 30 minutes to complete the installation and software installation. Now I have a computer with TOO MUCH hard drive! But, I can live with that!! Now, if only someone can produce an automobile this easy to use and maintain!
Rating:
Summary: Unmatched Costomer Service
Review: Yes, I've had a Maxtor Drive die on me. But here's the suprise! I called Maxtor to make good with their year warranty, and they not only quickly arranged for a replacement, but also payed to have my defective drive EXPRESS shipped back to their factories. Unreal! I've never had a company so eager to please it's costomers!
Rating:
Summary: Maxtor's service is tops!
Review: My BIOS detected a fault in my drive (an earlier version of this model) after about eighteen months of service; the unit then failed Maxtor's diagnostics. Maxtor warrants their drives for three years, so...You can obtain an RMA online (you supply the diagnostic codes but you don't need your purchase receipt) and they ship a replacement out right away if you give them a credit card number (or you can send yours back first and wait). When the new drive arrives, use the box to return the old one. Nothing could be slicker!
Rating:
Summary: Great second hard drive potential
Review: I purchased this drive in May, 2002. The price of under one hundred dollars was great for the speed. I convinced a friend to get a 7200 rpm drive instead of a 5400 rpm drive; the difference is stunning. I run linux and setup was easy. The BIOS recognized it and everything. I'd definitely recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Impossible to Install as Primary Drive
Review: I've successfully installed hard drives before without any problems, but this drive has been ridiculous. I too am upset with the fact that this Maxtor Box came with a Quantum Fireball drive inside. I read in another review that someone was upset with the note they received in their box telling them that they could not use the utility software that came with it. I either missed that or didn't get it. Call me crazy, but I just assumed that the software that came with the drive should work. I've been trying to configure this drive as a primary drive on anyone of three systems for weeks now. Two systems didn't have a new enough BIOS for the drive even though niether of them were more than a year old. So I decided to use the third system which is brand new. The problem is that I have a full version of Windows 95 and upgrades for Windows 98 and Windows ME. The Windows 95 setup won't even run, probably because WIndows 95 is only capable of handling drives up to 32 gigs. So I decided to try Windows NT 4.0, which I also have. After all sorts of problems, I got NT installed only to find out that it believed the 40 gig drive was a 2 gig one and that it was just about full. During all of these problems, I've been exploring the Maxtor Knowledge Base for answers, which sure didn't come with the drive. It was only then did I learn that I probably shouldn't be using the MaxBlast software that came with it. Ridiculus. It seems that most of these other consumers have installed it as a second drive or with a newer full version of Windows, such as a Windows 98 OEM. If you plan on using it as a primary drive, good luck. You're going to need it.
Rating: 
Summary: good drive, but the max blast software is confusing
Review: I bought this drive since I know maxtor is a great name in storage devices. It's my secondary drive on my computer, my original is a 5400 rpm 20 GB. Although I haven't filled up the first drive, I needed something a with a little faster access time to pull digital videos off my video camera via firewire. This drive does the trick. The only reason I gave it four stars is the Max Blast software for partitioning the drive it a little confusing. This drive is set up as my slave, and when I went to partition it with Max Blast, it labeled it in the software as drive C:. C: is my master drive, so I didn't overwrite it. Not knowing what the outcome would be, I decided to exit out of Max Blast and configure the hard drive with fdisk, so I knew what would happen. If you know how to use fdisk, I suggest you use that.
Rating:
Summary: Great Drive - but the rest needs help - you might too.
Review: First, this MAXTOR drive itself is great. It's quiet and fast, and I would expect most systems to be perceptibly faster with it - as far as the rest of the system components have the capacity to go faster. Even my 133MHz machine is a bit snappier. I have no reason to doubt the hardware itself. My points go to the hardware, not to the inexcusably poor - in my professional opinion - supporting materials. I struggled with the jumpers, the software, and the instructions for a week trying to transfer my boot drive onto my new drive and to get it to boot. In the end, I just installed Win98 cold from the CD. After that, the drive would boot. I'm now rebuilding my entire system - transferring files myself and reinstalling software, patches, updates, etc. Not quite what I had planned on. I found the instructions were artificially complex and confusing. An extra jumper needed for older systems was not provided. The software provided failed to format the partitions, copy files correctly, and to make the drive bootable. I also found the file copy setup window to have dangerous default settings that, if overlooked, could easily wipe your original system. (Specifically, the copy destination defaults to you original drives, NOT to the new empty disc. This is dangerous because the destination is FORMATTED before the files are transferred.) I advise caution and great attention to all the details when installing this drive. If you are not well versed on setting up a drive, especially a large drive on an older system, you should consider getting a pro to do it for you. And, as painful as they are, BACKUPS are in order.
Rating: 
Summary: A mediocre hard drive
Review: I have had this drive for about 10 days now and the performance seems quite reliable. However, two things bother me about this drive: 1. The noise. I have a brand new Dell Dimension 8200 that is a very quiet machine. I am adding this drive as a second volume and there is an annoying reverberating noise from the disk even when its not accessing. Its not an outright loud noise but persistent enough that after 15 minutes it "feels" very loud. I'm thinking of giving them a second chance and return this for a replacement. 2. The quality of the enclosed IDE cable is deplorable. The instructions in the package suggested using that cable to "maximize performance." Looking at the substandard cable, I thought of leaving the original Dell cable in there. When the sound kept disturbing me, I decided to give the Maxtor cable a try, for what it was worth. As expected, that didn't have any effect on the noise level. I did find a quirk with Windows 2000 in the process that might be helpful to other users. Apparently, when you switch IDE cables Win2K loses track of the bootable device! Switching back to the original cable does not help either. I tried all forms of recovery and repair but to no avail. I had to do a full install to get it up and and running again. This is not a problem with XP Home or Professional though.
Rating:
Summary: Short life
Review: I ordered it Dec.5th 2001, it was failing by feb 1 2002. However Maxtor is sending me another drive. I will just have to wait and see how it turnes out.
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