This is quite troublesome. I am runnung Windows XP Pro SP1. AMD Barton 3000, 1 gb ram. I had a Maxtor 160 gb ATA quit on me last week. Grinding noise and came to a halt. This drive was purchased in February this year(2004). I took it back and was given a new drive. After formatting and installing the new drive it started making a peculiar noise when the drive was being accessed. To me sort of a fluttering noise or vibration but very audible. I taked to Maxtor and was told to bring it back which I did and received another new drive. This one I have now is making the same noise when being accessed.I ran the Powermax tool and drive passed all tests.While the Powermax program ran (from DOS) I did not hear the noise. This noise is only loud when the drive is being taxed by a program. I have tried everything I can think of but no success. I also have an older IBM 40 gb drive in same machine as slave and it is quiet as can be. The original Maxtor that died was also quiet. Any ideas would be very much appreciated.