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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1


                                 CERTIFICATIONS

I, Paul J. Tufano, certify that:

            1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Maxtor
      Corporation;

            2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
      statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
      make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
      statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
      this report;

            3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
      financial information included in this report, fairly present in all
      material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
      flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
      report;

            4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible
      for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
      defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant
      and have:

                  (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
            caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
            our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
            registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
            to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
            period in which this report is being prepared;

                  (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
            controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions
            about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures,
            as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
            evaluation; and

                  (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
            internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
            registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth
            fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
            affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
            registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

            5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
      based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
      reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
      registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
      functions):

                  (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in
            the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
            which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
            ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
            information; and

                  (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
            management or other employees who have a significant role in the
            registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

                                           /s/ Paul J. Tufano
                                           ------------------
                                           Paul J. Tufano
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer

Date: November 10, 2003