Mac Mini external HD question -

I just purchased a Mac Mini w/ the Intel Core Duo and I'm having problems connecting my external HD to it.
When I first plugged it in the usb port it instantly recognized my external hd....but after waking it from sleep mode later it's no longer available. I know it works still because I can hook it up to a pc and everything's there still. The drive is a Maxtor so I went to their site to download any type of drivers that I need. It still doesn't work.
So I went out and bought a hd case for my other hd - this one being a Western Digital IDE that connects via usb - no luck here either.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really like the mac and plan on keeping it if I can resolve these problems.
Thank you in advance -

It's odd that the drive worked and subsequent to the wake-from-sleep, has so far failed to remount. While USB is not exactly the most robust of interface standards, it is rarely that flakey!
Firstly, with the external drive connected and powered, reboot the mini. Do you see any signs of activity from the drive during or immediately after the startup? Does the mini show any signs of attempting to mount it, such as the busy cursor (the spinning beachball) after the Finder has launched and the menu appeared? If you open Disk Utility (in applications>utilities) is it listed on the left-hand side? Is it listed in the System Profiler (also in applications>utilities) under the USB tab on the left?
While it's certainly true that Firewire represents a much more reliable connection, and actually gives more consistent data throughput rates, MacOS 10.4 has not been noted for anything beyond the usual degree of USB vagaries, which are notably more to do with sudden device outages caused by power load on the bus.
To be sure you are not suffering the consequences of that, you might wish to perform an SMC reset on your Intel mini as follows, if you have not done so already:
-From the Apple menu, choose Shut Down (or if the computer is not responding, hold the power button until it turns off).
-Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord and any display cables.
-Wait at least 15 seconds.
-Plug the power cord back in, making sure the power button is not being pressed at the time.
-Then reconnect your keyboard and mouse to the computer.
-Press the power button on the back to start up your computer.

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