Technology Forum

Hi Guys,hopefully someone can help me, becuase I think the problem may be a bit more complicated than it sounds, but hopefully not. Here is a quick background on whats going on.I have a Maxtor 4 one touch plus (1TB) external HD. Its only a few months old, and I originally put it on my Laptop running XP without any issues. I back up all my music, pix, videos, and work data on it, and have probably only turned it on 10 times to back things up. My laptop started giving me problems, one of them being not recognizing the external HD anymore, so I bought a new computer 2 days ago that is running Vista (64 bit.) Its an HP Pavilion Elite m9350f Desktop. ( will copy the specs below) So its brand new and doesnt have any settings issues.I went to the Seagate website, and followed all the troubleshooting steps. I put the external on 4 different computers(2 vista, 2 XP) and none could access it. I was FINALLY able to have tech support for seagate send me the Maxtor Manager Software, and I installed it on my work laptop running XP. The software prompted the password protect, and finally allowed me to get into the drive. This was my assumption for what was wrong after reading a ton of forums, so I figured the problem was solved.However, when I returned home yesterday, installed Maxtor Manager software, and hooked up the Drive, Windows failed to recognize it in mycomputer. However, its recognized in Disk manager as "unallocated" and the Maxtor manager recgonizes it as well, but cannot access it either. The problem is obviously the drive, and formatting and erasing is NOT an option for me. So, I am kind of back to square one again. I am positive there is a way to get around this to use the drive normally since I was able to do it in XP yesterday after going thru all these issues. I also confirmed with Seagate that there is no need for a different software in Vista, nor is here a known hardware conflict. I have uninstalled, and reinstalled the Maxtor software twice to no Avail.Any ideas? You guys have helped me thru a ton of stuff, so your guidance is always appreciated. Specs on new comp below.Processor Processor brand Processor brand: AMDRefers to the company that manufactures the processor.View full glossary Processor brand: Refers to the company that manufactures the processor. AMD Processor type Processor type: PhenomThe generation/basic model of the processor.View full glossary Processor type: The generation/basic model of the processor. Phenom Processor speed Processor speed: 2.50GHzThe number of calculations that the processor can handle in one second measured in millions of cycles (MHz).View full glossary Processor speed: The number of calculations that the processor can handle in one second measured in millions of cycles (MHz). 2.50GHz Bus speed Bus speed: N/AThe maximum rate of communication between the processor and the rest of the system, measured in millions of cycles (MHz).View full glossary Bus speed: The maximum rate of communication between the processor and the rest of the system, measured in millions of cycles (MHz). N/A Level 2 cache 2MB Level 3 cache 2MB Memory RAM 6GB RAM expandable to: 8GB Memory type (RAM) 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-6400) Storage/Drives hard drive size hard drive size: 750GBHard drive space is typically measured in Gigabytes (GB) or storage; the larger the number, the more programs, games and data you can use on your computer.View full glossary hard drive size: hard drive space is typically measured in Gigabytes (GB) or storage; the larger the number, the more programs, games and data you can use on your computer. 750GB hard drive speed 7200RPM Burns DVDs Yes Lightscribe Yes Expansion Available PCI-E x1 slots 1 Available 3.5" bays 1 Available 5.25" bays 1 Available PCI-E x16 slots 0 Available PCI slots Info unavailable Ports USB 2.0 USB 2.0: 6USB is a standard connection port on most PCs. This will allow you to quickly and easily connect and sync the device with your computer.View full glossary USB 2.0: USB is a standard connection port on most PCs. This will allow you to quickly and easily connect and sync the device with your computer. 6 Firewire Firewire: 2FireWire (or IEEE 1394) is a type of data transfer. Devices with FireWire output can transfer footage directly to a PC with a compatible cable.View full glossary Firewire: FireWire (or IEEE 1394) is a type of data transfer. Devices with FireWire output can transfer footage directly to a PC with a compatible cable. 2 DVI (Digital Video Interface) DVI (Digital Video Interface): 1This is a digital interface for connecting a video source, such as a DVD player, to an HDTV or HD monitor. DVI has the necessary bandwidth for uncompressed, HD digital video.View full glossary DVI (Digital Video Interface): This is a digital interface for connecting a video source, such as a DVD player, to an HDTV or HD monitor. DVI has the necessary bandwidth for uncompressed, HD digital video. 1 TV tuner TV tuner: YesA TV tuner lets you watch broadcast TV on the system.View full glossary TV tuner: A TV tuner lets you watch broadcast TV on the system. Yes Internet/networking Ethernet Yes Built-in wireless Yes Dial-up modem Included Graphics/video Video memory 2303MB Video memory type Partially shared Software Operating system Windows® Vista Home Premium General features UPC 883585957514 Manufacturer's part number KQ498AA#ABA