Trouble installing a Maxtor 3200 on Windows 98

Try the driver above first, but if it doesn't work try a generic driver for usb mass storage controllers with win 98.
http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/kb/usbmsd98.php

First make sure we are talking about Windows 98 Second Edition  (win98SE) the earlier version won't support USB External storage.
This is the driver (actually badged for the 3100) that Maxtor/Seagate recommend (which contains identical installation files to the 3200 download you already have)
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=Personal_Storage_3100/Win98SE_Driver&vgnextoid=39fd8b9c4a8ff010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD

Have you run it with the drive attached and powered up?
Have you tried changing the USB cable?

>>> "If I could find the driver on my hard-drive I'd browse to that, and that would be the end of it. But I do not know where to find the specific file it's looking for." <<<

I think it's easy enough, but read on for your own information first.

Just so you are aware:

The driver that you downloaded from the link:
http://www.softwaredriverdownload.com/download_maxtor_3200_usb_driver.html
and which would have taken you to the "rapidshare.com" site to download the file:
http://rs286l32.rapidshare.com/files/74168333/7795748/3200_usb_driver.exe

is exactly the same file (binary comparison and version number) as the driver file that is unpacked from the self-extracting exe file named "3100_98SE_Drivers.exe" that is downloadable from the link that Masqueraid found on the Seagate site for the "Personal Storage 3100" drive:

http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/maxtor/en_us/downloads/ps3100_98se_drivers.exe
The actual setup file extracted from this download is "3100_98SE_Drivers.exe".

When unpacked to their component files, both packages install what is referred to as: "Hi-Speed USB-to-IDE Win98 Driver" and the version is 1.0.8.0 dated 09/06/2004.

In other words, the packages are identical in every way.

I have broken it down and can easily upload it in a much more presentable way in a standard zip file that will allow you to use the "Upate Driver" option in Device manager to browse to the *.INF file IF this is necessary, but I doubt it.

I believe your issues could well be because you connected the usb cable BEFORE the driver installed.  Normally you just install the driver AND THEN connect the USB cable.  Good installers will tell you when to do this.

First of all, the installer package you downloaded should (according to the setup instructions on the download page given by masqueraid) unpack its contents into a new folder named "PS3100_98SE_Drivers" right in the root of the C:\ Drive.  The instructions tell you to open that folder and execute the file "3100_98SE_Drivers.exe".

If you haven't already done that, then first disconnect your USB Hard Drive and do so now.  This is the process that actually installs the driver files, bot the initial unpacking of the download.

If you HAVE already run "3100_98SE_Drivers.exe" from the "C:\PS3100_98SE_Drivers" folder, then the required files should already be in their destination folder waiting for you to tell the "Found New Hardware Wizard" where to look for the *.INF file that it needs to continue.

To reiterate your exact issue:
"If I could find the driver on my hard-drive I'd browse to that, and that would be the end of it. But I do not know where to find the specific file it's looking for."

What the "Found New Hardware Wizard" is looking for is an *.INF file.  This is a text-based file that contains the settings that write to the registry and copy various files to their correct system folders.

So, when you connect the usb cable and are prompted again, first navigate to the folder C:\Windows\INF and see if it lists the file named "IBUMSSMA.inf".
If not, then browse to each of the sub-folders to see if it finds a file of that name.

Immediately it detects a suitable *.INF file for the hardware it is trying to install the drivers for, it should allow you to proceed.

The actual files that should have been installed by this driver package are:

C:\Windows\System\IOSUBSYS\ibumspdr.pdr
C:\Windows\System\ibumss.sys

Don't be at all surprised to see a new System Startup program showing in your System Tray with an icon very similar to the "Safely Remove" (or Safely Eject) icon for Windows ME, 2000, and XP.  This package looks like it installs the file "MA2507MON.exe" probably to the C:\Windows\System folder.  You see, the System Tray is a Control Panel Applet, and Windows 98/98se do not have the Safely Remove function in that file.  The Windows ME System Tray DOES have this function built in.  So it looks like this package installs a standalone 3rd-party program that needs to run at startup.

As I said, if the steps above don't install and make the drive functional, then I can supply the necessary files in a ZIP with instructions file for you to use.

Bill

I see you were posting when I was typing.

To see if yo have Windows 98 1st Edition or 2nd Edition, RIGHT-Click on the desktop's "My Computer" icon and choose "Properties".  If the version shows as 4.10.2222 then you have 2nd Edition ie. SE.  If it shows as 4.10.1998, then you have First Edition which will not support the device without a generic 3rd-party driver that is a hash-up of later file versions.

It is usual for the Found Hardware Wizard to detect a drive by name.  It may be finding a digital identifier on the actual hardware or finding a previous reference to the device from the hardware database after an earlier failed installation. That doesn't mean that the drivers are installed or that it is ready to work with Windows.  If you are seeing the hardware detection wizard, then the drivers are not installed or the required registry settings have not been created yet.

IMPORTANT

If that drive was previously connected to a computer running Windows 2000, XP, or Vista, and IF you ever created partitions on the drive and/or formatted it while connected to such a system, then it is probably formatted using the NTFS Filing System which Windows 98 will not be able to recognise as a valid drive or access.  Windows 98 runs on a FAT32 Filing System which is usable by those other operating systems, but it doesn't work the other way around.

If you believe that the drive may be formatted as NTFS, then you should format it on the original system as FAT32, which will normally mean dividing it into much smaller partitions firts and then formatting each separately.