I bought a Maxtor personal storage 3100. I set it up as my E-drive. It has worked wonderfully. We had to take our CPU in for repairs a year or so later. When I brought it back and hooked it up, I could not find my E-drive in My Computer. I got out my installation directions and noticed at the bottom that it says to click on the icon to disconnect the drive from the computer. I didn't know that when we disconnected it and wonder if I've destroyed my hd. Is there any way I can reinstall it? If it's broken, is there any way to retrieve the data? I tried to reinstall it but am not sure how to do that. There weren't any listings for Maxtor on the hardware list. There was a mention of an "unknown device," but I don't know if it was referring to the E-drive or not. It's possible something's not hooked up in back properly. It's a USB cable, but I'm not sure if it matters which USB port I hook it into. As you can see, I'm a novice. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Do other USB devices work?

Try the rear ports rather than front.

When you plug it in do you get the ding sound of a new USB device?

Does your Task Bar show New Hardware Found?

All the other USB devices work. Our computer only has rear ports. It doesn't ding when installed, but a message popped up stating the computer had found unknown hardware. I used the trouble shooter wizard to check out the unknown hardware. It says it's working fine. (grrrr)! When I went into the control panel, "unknown hardware" was listed in the installed hardware listbox. I wonder if I've broken the USB and if it would work if I were to buy a new USB cable???

Do you have another computer you can try it on?

Also if you haven't already:

Plug it in with the computer powered off then startup and see if it comes up.

We don't have another computer with USB capabilities. I tried rebooting. Is there any way to get it to realize that the "unknown device" that is supposedly working is the auxillary drive?

It is listed as "unknown" because the operating system cannot tell what it is.

What is the operating system & service pack level? After it was reinstalled were the motherboard drivers added?

Windows XP, Service Pack 3. I'm not sure what you mean by the last question. Do you mean after the Service Pack 3 was installed were the motherboard drivers added? I don't know how to tell.

You had said:

"We had to take our CPU in for repairs a year or so later. When I brought it back and hooked it up, I could not find my E-drive in My Computer."

Did the repair require a reinstall of XP?

If so were the motherboard drivers added after the reinstall?

Good question. I don't know what they did because my husband picked up the computer. He knows less about them than I do. Everything else seems to work. Perhaps we should call the repair shop and ask if they reinstalled XP. It was taken in for viruses.

I think that is a good idea. And tell them your issue with the USB drive.

If they are a reputable shop they should be glad to at least try and help.