The OneTouch II now comes with DriveLock security, a utility that adds password protection for access to the drive, although it doesn't encrypt data. Unfortunately, if you forget your password and can't supply the correct answers to the software prompts, you'll be locked out of the drive. For Apple aficionados, OneTouch II can make a fully bootable copy of a Mac system.
Over the course of two weeks, we gave the 300GB Maxtor OneTouch II a hard workout by transferring files, playing music and videos, and performing nightly backups. Throughout, the drive remained quiet and never got more than warm. It comes with FAT32 formatting, which we changed to NTFS, yielding 279GB of usable data space. Using the USB interface, it can read and write at 89.1Mbps and 135.6Mbps, respectively, although the FireWire interface slows down data writing to 131.4Mbps while raising its read speed to 104.3Mbps. All in all, it's a little faster than its older brother, and it performed a full backup of our test system in just more than an hour, half the time of the original OneTouch unit.
With a one-year warranty, the OneTouch II comes with coverage that is similar to that of external drives from competitors such as Iogear and Western Digital. Although Maxtor supports the drive for as long as you own it, you'll need to contact Dantz for help with the drive's backup software. Maxtor's Web site is a cornucopia of help, from the latest drivers and manuals to FAQs and excellent troubleshooting resources to a thorough and well-staffed online forum. The toll-free phone line is open only Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT, but we when tried it, a helpful technician was on the line in just less than three minutes.
- See more CNET content tagged:
- Maxtor,
- backup,
- Seagate Technology,
- FireWire,
- password
