dont low level format the drive !. what said by Big_Z , what you can do is get the bios update from the manufacturer of the motherboard. if you are not sure about updating bios, then you can use disk manager to install the drive, remember only use maxtor disk manager to install your drive cause your drive is a maxtor drive. i think this is bios limitation or inproper installation of the drive. if you still unable to install it on your system, then try on a different machine,. if still having the same problem. contact maxtor for replacement