Seagate 1.5 TB FreeAgent Ext. Drive Settings and Questions?

:confused:I’m running Vista Home Premium, SP2, Intel Core Duo 2,13GHz, 232 GB H/D capacity and 2 GB RAM.

I purchased a Seagate 1.6 TB FreeAgent Desk external hard drive and installed it today. When my system is running I can also hear the new Seagate external drive all the time and it’s always warm (not hot!). My power setting is setting is set for 3 minutes but I would think it would shut down after 3 minutes. Does it ever shut completely down?

Also, I backed up today and it took about 5 hours. I haven’t looked yet on what it backed up but I wondered if it backed up Vista?

It shouldn't back up Vista as I have obviously have the CD. Is this normal or do I have my settings wrong as well what to back up?

I was thinking of uninstalling and reinstalling the setup. I have 2 weeks left at Best Buy if it’s faulty but the test showed it was OK.

Any suggestions on what I’m doing wrong? Also, what do you think of Carbonite? It was listed as part of the set up…maybe Seagate owns it or had an agreement with Carbonite. I guess it's a pay-for on-going back program on the internet. How reliable is Carbonite and which is more reliable?

Thanks for any help,
Mike

I have that seagate, but I DO NOT use the seagate backup.

Be DARN SURE you use the Safely Remove to shut it down before removing the USB connection. Remove the connector and about 30 seconds later, the external shuts down. {Failure to do so could lead to a 100% lose of what is on the drive!}

I just use copy/paste of what I want to backup. And except when backing up, it is never attached to my computer. Learned the hard way.
After 3 years, it about time to do a clean install.

Thanks Train!

I never thought of disconnecting it since it's not necessary. I just pulled the power supply before my question. Is there any need to reinstall it.

I still don't now why it was backing up for hours today? It must of backed up Vista. I'll look into how to format it and back up again if that's the correct way.

Mike

First thing I did was to explore the external , Made a new folder and stuck all the backup junk into it. And it took several days to backup about 500 GB of stuff. Now should you really hate to lose stuff, guilty :D , you can get a couple more externals that allows you to store backups off site.
Do not forget Data CDs/DVDs are still valid means of backups. Sure it takes more than one disk, but they do work.

Just have to figure out just how bad we would HATE to lose something!

Thanks for the info! I'll look more into it today and and create folders. All I really want to back up is music, photos (no video), my docs, Outlook 07 if it backs Outlook up and the registry.

If you can think of anything else I don't have on the Vista CD let me know. All my other programs (A/V etc.) are on CD's as well.

Mike

Looks like you have the basics covered.

If you download a program that you like, BACK IT UP. Thise things do disappear off the internet every now and then, or get converted to $$$$$ ware. :(
Burn then and be sure to test them before they do disappear. :( :(

:confused:My first shot at a back up last Saturday ran for hours and I shut it down thinking I may be backing up Vista. If I format the external (don't really now how and they don't say) and start over, will do anything negative to the new state it's in now?

I read that somewhere on the internet. I have the Adobe user guide up on the screen and will start from the beginning that way.

I guess drag and drop is the easiest way to back up. I'm thinking any damage or crash to my PC hard drive would just call for a format/new drive and reinstall Vista then back up.

Thanks,
Mike

How much where you trying to back up?

USB is not all that fast either.

I went through set up and clicked on back up up now. I don't know exactly what it was backing up...I assumed not Vista. Now I'd like to format the external and start fresh but I'm not sure how to format the Seagate external.

Thanks,
Mike

Go into disk management, R-click the drive and select format.

It will be formatted NTFS though.

Thanks!

Mike

NOTE!!!
It will be a long job!

Thanks for warning. Is it OK on the drive to format when I go to bed.

Also, could just leave it as is from Saturday and still do quality back ups? Maybe drag and dropping is all I have to do.

Carbonite has good deal right now but I don't know if that slows your system down? Leo LaPorte recommended it last week. I'm not sure if Carbonite backs up your contacts...maybe that's in the settings.

Mike

I have no idea, first I heard of it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mike2rc

:... ... ...
Also, I backed up today and it took about 5 hours. I haven’t looked yet on what it backed up but I wondered if it backed up Vista?... ...

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Norton's Ghost, I won't leave home without it.

In about 10 (ten) MINUTES one can make a complete copy of an entire disk/partition and be back operating.

:confused:I did "just" a drag and drop last night of my photos which went fine then it said 20 hours remaining for this back up. I assumed it was going to back up Vista. I didn't check folders/files and click back up on this one...just drag and drop.

Any idea why it went into a 20 back up which I stopped? Could it be my settings or might it be faulty. I think I should have bought an iomega external instead.

I was also thinking of formatting it and reinstalling the software making sure Seagate has that download as I didn't get a CD with this...it just went into install when I connected it the first time a few days ago.

Also, in power saver mode, can you still slightly hear the drive spinning like your internal?

Thanks,
Mike

The initial estimates of file copy and backup times from Microsoft Windows are notoriously inaccurate. Starting with Vista, they are supposed to have improved the accuracy, but from what I have seen they can still be way off at least early on in the process.

Thanks, it's just odd it went into a 20 hour back up. There's one new update for Vista I that I forced me to restore. It's the platform update for Vista KB971644. When I would shut off my PC, it would show another user message, reboot and then I could shut down. Maybe there's a way (or tweak) to change the settings to eleviate that.

It almost seems like MS is doing their best to push consumers to Apple except many people still have MS software that may not run on an iMac. Everyone I know loves their iMac and most likely will be my next computer down the road. Even Leo LaPorte really started liking Apple years ago and said he has both. I do know gamers prefer PC's over iMacs.

Mike

Reminds me of the never-ending "Chevy vs. Ford" debates of yesteryear. :)

There is no best-for-everyone . . . because everyone's different. This is normal. What works great for you may be an unacceptable/unworkable solution for another.

People change too. This is also apparently normal. What was OK yesterday may all of a sudden be absolute junk today. (I'm clueless here. Ask a wife). :D

Let the debates rage on ... :)