23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Drive OK, OneTouch Backup software BE AWARE, June 22, 2008
This review is from: Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus 750 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400 Desktop External Hard Drive STM307504OTA3E5-RK (Personal Computers)
I have had a 300G "One Touch" drive for a couple of years now. It still functions acceptably.
I recently bought this current 750G Maxtor drive that I use primarily for backing up mp3 files (music) and photos. The price and capacity were right. I thought the most recent version of software would show some improvements. You see--the last version of the One Touch back up software, and now, this most recent version does not "save my life"--as it says it will on the label of the box.
IF this software "saved my life" (that is, back up ALL files on my hard drive as I specify) then it would do the simplest of functions--specifically the back up of all the files associated with mp3 files in a folder. You see, the jpg album art and folder images are part of the mp3 files. Without those images, folders lose their thumbnail identifiers. Without those images, moving files back and forth between drives and any other player program, whether it be iTunes, Windows Media Player, or to an ipod, those images are lost FOREVER. OK, maybe "forever" is not quite right, but if you have 10,000-20,000 songs on your ipod and on your hard drive, it is very time consuming to go out and grab those image files again.
So much for saving a life or even an image associated intimately with another file or folder. The problem, noted on the Seagate/Maxtor site and by other reviewers here, is that the software will NOT copy "hidden" files (even if they are unhidden in the folder). In fact this the list of files not automatically backed up...
* Operating System files that are in use
* Hidden/System Files & Folders - this includes Microsoft Outlook Data & Personal Files (e.g., *.PAB and/or *.PST files)
* Microsoft Compressed Folders
* Microsoft Encrypted Folders
* Offline Files
So you can forget about using the OneTouch software for backing up your music library (at least with the image files attached) OR your Outlook email/contacts folder (*.pst). I also noted the software was not copying zip files (compressed?) or even some Acrobat files (huh?). Oh, you CAN copy these files manually by dragging them from one location to another... but when you have a couple thousand mp3 files, that is pretty tedious!
Supposedly, SafetyDrill --another program from Seagate-- will copy these types of files, but since it was not provided in the box...there was no way to test it.
I just did not understand. So I persisted... I tried any number of methods to create a back door so I could possibly "save my life" and could not get anything to save those (un)hidden image files. I played with my file folders thinking that it was just the fact that the files are "hidden"... so I unhid them in both folders on my computer and the One Touch folders. No luck.
So with a functioning drive, that I WANT to use... I finally just dumped the software and am using a program called "filesync", available with a quick search on the web. (and well worth the $15 requested).
Why would Seagate provide such a disabled "save your life" program to customers who expect to be able to use the software for something as simple as backing up their ipods?
Would I recommend this drive to someone? Certainly not to a beginning computer user. I might if the experienced purchaser knew up front that THE MOST COMMON USE (back up of music files with image files in the same folder) is severely lacking using the Maxtor software... AND they would need to purchase another back-up program to do things properly. This lack of functionality is disappointing, especially when the Seagate/Maxtor site is loaded with commentary going back over a year about the same lack of functionality. Makes you wonder if they will listen when more serious problems might occur.
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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
horrible customer service, January 12, 2008
This review is from: Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus 750 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400 Desktop External Hard Drive STM307504OTA3E5-RK (Personal Computers)
I purchased this product and backed up my entire hard drive. My computer crashed so I took it to the Mac Store. They put it a new hard drive and I was excited to load up my new drive from my external hard drive. This product was only 2 weeks old and it failed. I tried to get the Maxtor to help me and they immediately wanted me to pay $700-2000 for them to retrieve my data. I called back again and was given different information about a tech who would help me between certain hours. The tech would call at a specific time and walk me through the process and if that failed I could turn to "Michelle" in customer service who would solve my problems. The tech never called. I cannot reach Michelle. I was thrown back in customer service hell and left on hold for 40 minutes before being disconnected. No one at the company will help. I hired a Mac specialist to come to my home and try to fix the problem, but he was unable to detect the drive.
Total frustration. Everything is lost. I have called Maxtor 6 times already, and I'll be back at it on Monday. They do not have evening or weekend customer reps - so hope you do not have a job so that you will have the time to commit yourself fulltime Monday- Friday to dealing with this miserable company.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love this external drive!, December 28, 2007
This review is from: Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus 750 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400 Desktop External Hard Drive STM307504OTA3E5-RK (Personal Computers)
Much better drive than the failed 500GB Western Digital My Book drive I replaced with this Maxtor. Dual USB/Firewire interfaces, 750GB capacity and five year warranty are real pluses. Bundled backup software installs easily from drive itself but software functionality and feature set is fair at best compared to commercial packages like Symantec's Backup Exec System Recovery. While not a major consideration for me, this drive looks really cool. This drive does not have a power off/on switch so look elsewhere if that's a requirement for you (I leave my external drives powered on 24/7). This is my 5th Maxtor external drive and all have been better that numerous other brands and generics I have tried. Each Maxtor external drive generation seems to get better than its predecessor. I hope Seagate's purchase of Maxtor doesn't screw up their product line. Highly recommended if the bundled software isn't a major reason for your purchase.
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