Ok, well that didn't take too long. Got my drive out of the Maxtor shell, threw it in my cheapo external case and guess what? The drive works. I didn't want to void the warranty, but I'd rather have all my data than a refurbished fresh drive. I'm not paying them to recover my data. Besides, I wouldn't want one of these drives again. I'll stick to making my own.
Warning: Tampering with the drive case WILL void your warranty.On the bottom, there are four screws to remove. You'll need a small phillips. Two are under the serial number tag, towards the top. The other two are under the rubber strip at the opposite end. This piece then unsnaps with a little effort.
Next you have four similar screws directly under that, holding the drive assembly inside the case. Remove these.
With a little finese, the drive should slide out of the case. Pay close attention to the vent at the top. If you don't try to pull the drive straight out, there is a small plastic piece that will get caught.
Once this is out, you'll have a plastic "cage" surrounding a metal "cage surrouding the harddrive. Look at the side with the 3 small + shaped posts. The panel that the posts are on is what we'll remove to free the drive. On either side of the end posts, there is a little tap. Push in on the tap to release the snaps that hold the panel in. Pull the panel out. The metal "cage" should now come out.
Remove about 4 large phillips screws, then 4 smaller ones (you don't need to remove the small circuit board). Now you'll have to pry the metal shell apart. Voila. Your drive is free and be put in any SATA enclosure, or in your PC and you can recover your data.
Hope this helps you.
