Phew! Samsung drive. After much fiddle/faddling I got it formatted NTFS ( yes, xxx, it DOES need to be plugged into the rear ports AND I appear to need to disconnect a bus-powered 4-port USB hub for it to stay on line) and in the nick of time as YET ANOTHER MAXTOR drive is dying on me. Fortunately the 'spare' 80 GB from the last MAXTOR warranty return was idle and is now formatted/partitioned/cloned and in place instead of. A close thing as 'S**ityLink' screwed up the delivery (again) and it arrived 3 days late.
Good bit of kit - thanks for the gentle 'nudge' SD
3 year old MAXTOR drive will be going back to Seagate (who now own Maxtor) for warranty replacement. Hopefully the quality will improve under the new owners.