4 Free Maxtor Hard Drive Data Recovery Solutions

Need Help Recovering Files from Maxtor M3 Portable External Hard Drive

Possible Reasons for Maxtor Hard Drive Data Loss

Data loss on a Maxtor hard drive can happen for a variety of reasons, and understanding these causes is the first step toward effective recovery. Whether due to user error or hardware failure, identifying the root of the problem helps you choose the right recovery method.

🎈Accidental Deletion: Important files may be unintentionally deleted without realizing it.

🎈Formatting: The drive may have been formatted by mistake, wiping all stored data.

🎈File System Corruption: A corrupted or RAW file system can make the drive unreadable.

🎈Physical Damage: External damage such as drops or overheating can lead to hardware failure.

🎈Virus or Malware Infection: Malicious software may delete, hide, or corrupt files.

🎈Improper Ejection or Sudden Power Outage: Disconnecting the drive without safe removal can cause data corruption.

🎈Bad Sectors: Faulty areas on the disk can result in unreadable files or partition loss.

🎈Drive Not Recognized: If the Maxtor drive fails to show up in Windows, data access becomes impossible.

4 Free Solutions for Maxtor Hard Drive Data Recovery

Losing data from a Maxtor hard drive can be frustrating, but there are several free methods you can try before investing in professional data recovery service.

1. Check the Recycle Bin

If you deleted files from a Maxtor drive connected to your PC without using Shift+Delete keys combination, they might still be in the Recycle Bin. Open the Recycle Bin on your desktop. Look for the deleted files. If you find it, right-click and choose "Restore".

2. Use File History (Windows Backup)

If the Maxtor hard drive is your internal drive and you have enabled File History to back up it previously, you can restore them via this feature:

Step 1. Press Windows + S and type "Control Panel" and hit on Enter.

Step 2. In Control Panel screen, click "System and Security"> "File History"> "Restore your files with File History".

Step 3. Browse folders to find the files or folders you want to restore. Click a file once to preview it (optional).

Step 4. Select the file(s) or folder(s) you want to recover. Click the green "Restore" button at the bottom. The file(s) will be restored to their original location.

(Optional) Right-click the "Restore" button and choose "Restore to" to save them in a different location

3. Try Windows File Recovery (Command-Line Tool)

If you're using Windows 10 or 11, you can try Microsoft's official recovery tool: Windows File Recovery. This tool helps recover deleted files using command-line syntax.

Step 1. Download and install the tool from Microsoft Store.

Step 2. Open Command Prompt as Administrator. Press Win+X, choose “Command Prompt (Admin)”Windows 10 or Terminal (Admin) Windows 11.

Step 3. Run the command:"winfr H: D: /regular /n *.png" or "winfr H: D: /extensive/n *.png" (this are examples)

Notes:✎...

"H:" is your Maxtor drive.

"D:" is the destination to save recovered files.

"/regular" is for recent deletions (NTFS drives only). "/extensive" is for deeply deleted or formatted files, and works on NTFS, FAT, and exFAT file systems.

"/n *.png" is to target specific file types.

When you are prompted for confirmation to continue, enter "Y" to start the recovery operation. Depending on the size of your source drive, this may take a while. Once completion, you can also enter "Y" to directly access the recovered files from Maxtor hard drive.

4. Free Third-Party Recovery Software- MyRecover

If the command-line interface of Windows File Recovery makes you confused a lot, or you got stuck in various error messages like "switch used is incompatible with the scan mode", "There is an error parsing your command, " No recoverable files were found with this mode", etc, you might consider a quicker, more intuitive way to recover files from your Maxtor hard drive, MyRecover is a great alternative.

MyRecover is a professional yet easy-to-use data recovery tool that supports over 500 data loss scenarios, including accidental deletion, formatting, transfer failure, power loss, virus attacks, system crashes, and more.

Step 1. Download and install the free Maxtor hard drive data recovery software.

MyRecover

Easy Data Recovery Software

• 500+ Devices Supported | SSD, HDD, USB Flash Drive, SD Sard, etc.
• 1000+ File Formats Supported | PNG, MP4, MP3, TXT, ZIP, MSG, etc.
• 500+ Data Loss Scenarios | Deletion, Format, System Crash, Virus Attack, etc.

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Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

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Step 2. Open it on your computer. Select the Maxtor hard drive and click on "Scan".

Step 3. It will start the scanning process automatically. After that, you can browse through all recoverable files, and select what you need. To recover some specfic types of files, use the "Filter" or "Search" feature.

Step 4. Check the boxes to those target files, click on "Recover" button.

Step 5. Choose a safe location (not the Maxtor hard drive) to hold the recovered files.

Then wait for the recovery to complete. The time varies depending on the size of the recovered data. Once completion, you will see a mini summary window where you can know the number and location of successfully recovered data.

To unlock more advanced features such as recovering unlimited data, restoring files from computer that won’t boot, previewing files before recovery, please try Professional edition.

Extra Tips about Maxtor Hard Drive Repair

In addition to data recovery, it's important to keep your Maxtor hard drive in good health. Here are a few practical tips to help detect, fix, or prevent issues:

✅ 1. Check the Drive with CHKDSK

Run Windows built-in disk checking tool to fix file system errors and bad sectors: chkdsk g: /f /r

> Replace "g:" with your Maxtor drive letter.

> "/f" fixes errors; "/r" locates, repairs bad sectors and recover readable information from them.

✅ 2. Update or Reinstall the Disk Driver

An outdated or corrupted driver can prevent the drive from working properly:

• Press "Win + X" > "Device Manager".

• Expand "Disk drives" > Right-click your Maxtor drive.
• Choose "Update driver" or "Uninstall device" (then reboot).

✅ 3. Try a Different USB Port or Cable (For External Drives)

Sometimes the problem lies in the connection, not the drive itself. Switch to another USB port or cable, or try connecting the drive to a different PC.

✅ Method 4. Rescan Your Maxtor Drive

If your Maxtor drive isn't showing all files, try rescanning it to refresh the system's detection:

• Open Disk Management (Win + X > Disk Management).
• Locate your Maxtor drive and note its drive letter.
• Click "Action"> "Rescan Disks"in the top menu.

After the rescan, check File Explorer to see if missing files now appearThis simple step may help uncover data that wasn’t initially recognized.

✅ 5. Check Drive Status

Open Disk Management and see if the Maxtor drive shows up as "RAW, unallocated, or offline".

• If RAW: the file system is corrupted.
• If Unallocated: the partition is missing.
• If Offline: right-click and choose "Online".

Initialize or create a new partition on the Maxtor drive space, or reformat it. All will erase all data, so only do this after successful Maxtor h ard drive data recovery via one of the above methods.

Bottom Line

In this guide, we outlined 4 free methods to help you finish Maxtor hard drive data recovery. Whether you like free Windows built-in options like Recycle Bin or File History, or prefer powerful third-party solutions like Windows File Recovery or the beginner-friendly MyRecover, you can find the step-by-step instructions. Same methods can also be applied for Samsung disk data recovery, Seagate hard drive data recovery, SanDisk data recovery and more.