I want to download my documents, pictures and music to Seagate 500 but how do I do it and how do you know it was completed correctly?
1877801
I am assuming you are using a Windows machine since you have asked the question for this particular variant of the product. Just open the folder containing all the files/folders you want to copy. Then press Win+E to open Explorer. Find the connected hard drive under removable devices or something. Select everything you want to copy from the other window and drag it to this window. Everything will be copied and you will be able to see it in the window showing the contents of the hard drive. In case you are on a Mac, you can find the hard drive in the left sidebar in a Finder window. You can do the same. Find your files, select them and drag them over to the hard drive. It will get copied. You can also use the Backup feature on Windows or Time Machine on a Mac to automatically back up everything regularly.
1877802
Well once it is complete you can navigate to the seagate drive through finder and try to open the files to verify they are there. How it is done? I still have not gotten it to work, but seagate sent me some info because I have had trouble. Check seagate's website.
1877803
I'm on a Macbook and use Carbon Copy Cloner to back up my files on one of the Seagate drives, one for an entire system clone and another for photo and documents backup. I also use a couple of the 500 drives to store and edit my photography, saving space on the laptop hard drive. Your copy software will tell you it's done and you can just open the external drive and see that your files are there.
956891
Plug it into a USB port and use it much like a thumb drive. I can give a better explanation if you tell me which operating system you use. On my wife's Windows 8 PC the system recognizes the drive and gives three options for what to do with it. I don't know if it will give the same options the first time you use it. I first used it with Windows XP. There I used "My Computer" to find the drive. Then I used "drag and drop" to move files to the WD drive. You can also use the backup and restore software to make back-ups from your main hard drive to the WD. I've also used it with Linux. If you need more help please tell me your operating system and what it says when you plug into the USB port.
327397
connect it to a USB port. if you get prompted for an "action choice," select "open folder to view files" or something like that. if not, open explorer (Win) and access the drive manually. drag and drop files to/from it.
1673905
the best way to back up your files is to simply drag and drop or copy paste make couple of folders manually like my pics my doc ....and drop all your stuff there
896161
You need to format the drive before use. So if you have some files on it, you will lose that. Beware!!!!!
191938
I installed 2 "Seagate Backup Plus 4TB USB 3.0 Black Desktop Hard Drive STCA4000100" and it seems to be working fine. I found it cheaper to pull them from the housings.
1372211
cloning process from 500 Gb to 2 Tb drive. From Western digital to Seagate drive (2tb). It does clone the hard drives well, I cloned my 500 gb to 2TB hard drive. Have to click on the RED BUTTON twice though. Turn off and retry the process, if it does not take it the first time. I had to repartition mine after due to larger clone size. Otherwise works well. I used a small external fan to keep the hard drives cool while cloning. Hope this extra info help users out there. The process takes a long time though, I allowed it a full day to do its stuff. The cloning is a stand alone process, does not need any computer. Need to remove your hard drie from the computer to begin with. cloning process from 500 Gb to 2 Tb drive. From Western digital to Seagate drive (2tb). It does clone the hard drives well, I cloned my 500 gb to 2TB hard drive. Have to click on the RED BUTTON twice though. Turn off and retry the process, if it does not take it the first time. I had to repartition mine after due to larger clone size. Otherwise works well. I used a small external fan to keep the hard drives cool while cloning. Hope this extra info help users out there. The process takes a long time though, I allowed it a full day to do its stuff. The cloning is a stand alone process, does... » Read More cloning process from 500 Gb to 2 Tb drive. From Western digital to Seagate drive (2tb). It does clone the hard drives well, I cloned my 500 gb to 2TB hard drive. Have to click on the RED BUTTON twice though. Turn off and retry the process, if it does not take it the first time. I had to repartition mine after due to larger clone size. Otherwise works well. I used a small external fan to keep the hard drives cool while cloning. Hope this extra info help users out there. The process takes a long time though, I allowed it a full day to do its stuff. The cloning is a stand alone process, does not need any computer. Need to remove your hard drie from the computer to begin with. « Show Less
2279318
Unfortunately no. I bought a new computer that has a USB 3 port and I even tried to reformat the drive and it only gets to about 100MB then shuts the reformat down. So in the end NEVER EVER buy SEAGATE!
1486641
Sorry, I can't find that info in my booklet. Try going to the Seagate website.
45931
It should recognize is, there should be an updated drive to view it. Check the Seagate website for that.
1662396
How you perform a backup isn't unique to this drive. It does not come with any software. You'll have to check your operating system's instructions. I'm guessing you are using Windows. If you are using the Apple OS, Time Machine takes care of all the work.
940807
Yes, the Seagate is a versatile external drive that connects to your PC via USB cord. You are able to save and update files daily.
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.
1281850
I have no idea. I would call Seagate. They were great when I called with questions.
2066523
They provide something called Seagate Dashboard which is like a menu. From there you can have the drive do backups as well as post every picture backed up also posted to Facebook.
248976
The drive is used for dvd backups and picture storage. When the old drive failed, I purchased another USB 3.0. That didn't help. I recovered almost 1 TB in two days. Then, since I had not yet received the new 3.0 card, I tried using the USB 2.0 to transfer from another backup (a western digital) to the Seagate. In 3 days, I moved about 300 Gb. That was left on 24 hours, too. After I got and installed the new 3.0 (I still doubted the old one), all remaing 500 plus Gb moved in less than 3 hours!. I never measured or recorded the speed. And the old 3.0 USB worked similarly.
51826
No it's a blank hard drive. You will need to format to what ever operating system u are using.