bad copy of this external drive, perhaps? kindly advise. Seagate makes the best externals, period, but, b. don't go over ?
926434
Although I don't own this particular drive, I am here as I am looking to buy this one also to add to my two other Seagate 500gb Freeagents that I already have that have been working flawlessly for me for over 12 months now. I honestly think that your experience was most likely caused by a faulty unit. Without knowing your computer configuration (windows, mac or linux) it's hard to say if any extra steps would need to be taken to set it up, but for a windows or linux based pc it should be simply plug and play in my experience. As you see on this site, there is only one bad review of the product. If you think about how many of these must get sold every year, one bad review is pretty good as almost everybody will take the time to complain, but very few will come back to write a positive review as a working product is what most people expect. So I guess the short answer from me is yes, I would give this drive a second chance, but then again, i may be biased by my great experience. I hope that this is of some help to you..
1038972
I found that I did have trouble if i tried to plug into an external USB extension and had to go directly into the computer - but it sounds like you already did that so I'm not sure. Did you try to just bring up a Windows explorer session and see if there is new drive listed?
1667133
I've looked into that and without the original sales receipt it would be reckoned from the date burned into the ROM. You would have 5 years from that date. I found this out by having a drive without a receipt and needing service. WD is so much better than Seagate. I've only had one that I needed service and almost all Seagate drives died within a couple of months for the warranty expiring. 5 years is forever in terms of drives. I got the 2GB version and on a 6Gb channel it's almost as fast as a USB3 flash drive. maybe faster. In short-it screams!
1128740
I have 3 westerns in my pc i havent had a seagate in awhile. I have a seagate external drive and its ran fan for like 7 years. So i would look up some reviews of both and see which one is best.
1457815
This is the worst hard drive ever. Don't trust it! I lost all my files even though I had it backed up on two separate externals! Go with a different company. I'm using sea gate now and haven't had a problem.
803031
NOT from this seller - I checked both serial numbers on Seagates Warranty Validation page and see "The product you identified was sold as a system component. Please contact your place of purchase for service."I have a failed drive, and no response from the seller - can't send it back to Seagate.. uh oh.
6223
Yes, I have had similar issues with other external, enclosed USB hard drives. That is, they get VERY hot, and then shut down after about 30 minutes of operation. These enclosed drives are pretty much useless unless they have a vent and cooling fan. I really don't know how anyone uses them successfully. The only way I have been able to use them is to keep them completely open, which means removing all the casing and just laying the bare drive and it's connenctors out in open. Pretty ugly, but it will run all day like this :-)
1384700
Hi, sorry to hear about that. I used mine just to copy a HDD once and it worked fine, I haven't used after that.
914719
Never had that issue with this item. try unplugging all cables and then try plugging the drive into the wall, with out any cables to the computer. If the problem persists, contact WD. Hopefully you are still under warranty, and they can get you a replacement.
101318
I've wondered about this too. When I purchased this drive all I wanted was a drive, not a lot of software. And I have no interest in their sharing capability on social media. Maybe someone can answer this, like Seagate themselves.
1432558
My drive wouldn't mount on most of my computers, and would hammer and click for a while before showing up on one. Another computer started working just fine, so I just used it there, but the drive letters started switching all around before it just wouldn't mount anymore. I opened it up, very difficult to do, thinking I'd be able to mount and recover the data but it looks like won't be that easy. I'd try another computer, and take your data off it and consider it unreliable
1431153
The device I bought was from LaCie, which is currently at the Seagate lab right now because they're attempting to recover my data. I don't know if LaCie's a part of Seagate or not. I'm assuming it is. I wish I could tell you more.
1548170
It could be a bad drive. I had to return a brand new 4TB WD drive because it wouldn't format. Try to format it and if it fails, return it like I did. I always thought WD drives were more durable with long MTBF times but this one was a dog from the start.
275754
That is no rule of thumb I have ever heard in my 15 years in IT. Seagate/Maxtor makes up the 'lower tier' of drive brands. Hitachi/Samsung are slightly more reliable. WD is still reliability king. Even if you get a good Seagate/Maxtor drive they are prone to fail after a few years, right after the warranty expires. The large capacity drive firmware issues they've been having this last year or so has just sullied their reputation even further and the kind of bugs they've had recently in fully released firmware is inexcusable. Seagate has recently earned their rep as the bottom rung hard drive supplier firmly and deservedly and that by a country mile.
629559
I just had a Western Digital 2TB My Book fail miserably (miserably!!! Dead!) after two months. I've never had any other drive fail (and I've used much smaller capacity WD external drives w/out issue in the past). But i'm now a Seagate (1TB Freeagent) user because I won't trust the larger WD's any longer. Once bitten! ;) Since the failure, many of my colleagues have admitted the same type of failure from their WD's and are using Seagates with good results. If you search online, you'll see very mixed reviews with similar negative views of the Seagates, but I can only speak from my own very frustrating experience with my WD. I just had a Western Digital 2TB My Book fail miserably (miserably!!! Dead!) after two months. I've never had any other drive fail (and I've used much smaller capacity WD external drives w/out issue in the past). But i'm now a Seagate (1TB Freeagent) user because I won't trust the larger WD's any longer. Once bitten! ;) Since the failure, many of my colleagues have admitted the same type of failure from their WD's and are using Seagates with good results. If you search online, you'll see very mixed reviews with similar negative views of the Seagates, but I can only speak from my own very... » Read More I just had a Western Digital 2TB My Book fail miserably (miserably!!! Dead!) after two months. I've never had any other drive fail (and I've used much smaller capacity WD external drives w/out issue in the past). But i'm now a Seagate (1TB Freeagent) user because I won't trust the larger WD's any longer. Once bitten! ;) Since the failure, many of my colleagues have admitted the same type of failure from their WD's and are using Seagates with good results. If you search online, you'll see very mixed reviews with similar negative views of the Seagates, but I can only speak from my own very frustrating experience with my WD. « Show Less
583316
Good points. It's still relatively new, and I wonder especially how the hard drive model has held up. My new one arrived DOA, and now I'm really struggling over whether to ask Amazon for a refund or an exchange. This baby may be intended to be Solid State all the way, which means the hard drive models will be unwanted period pieces in another year or two.
1562358
I have the Seagate 2tb and I also run Windows 7 and it just asked me to upload an out of date app but it works. That's all I can tell you.