Maxtor external drive not working

[sspeedstreet]

I tried to open a file that was located on my Maxtor external drive and got a message that there was an error and the drive needed to be reformatted. There was no noise from the unit that I heard. I gave it to my local computer guy and he said he could get it to start, but it would not spin up and stay running.

What are my options now?

I appreciate any help you can give me.

 

[satrow]

First thing for me would be to split the external case to remove the drive then fit it in your PC (instead of your optical drive(s). You may need to enter the BIOS first to detect the drive before booting to Windows/Linux/whatever. The external controller may be shot.

Andy.