External Hard Drive
Quick Start
Guide
Your new Seagate®external hard drive is a stateof-the-art unit: solid, safe, quiet, cool, versatile
and portable, ready to go from one location to
another—an ideal backup device for multiple
systems, or simply a safe and dependable place
to store your important files.
Your new Seagate hard-drive kit also includes
award-winning BounceBack Express backup
software for both Windows and Mac operating
systems. See page 12 for more information
about BounceBack Express.
Dual-interface and USB-only kits
Seagate ships two external hard drive kits:
•A dual-interface kit, with a USB 2.0 interface,
a FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394a and iLink)
interface and full backup capability that includes
a pushbutton backup feature
•A USB-only kit, with a USB 2.0 interface and
full backup capability that includes a pushbutton
backup feature.
Note. BounceBack Express does not support the pushbutton
backup feature for a Mac OS that is using a USB interface.
This guide uses the terms “dual-interface” and
“USB-only” to differentiate between these two
kits wherever something applies to one kit but
not the other.
Dual-interface external hard drive
USB-only external hard drive kit
2
Quick Start Guide
Multi-function
push button
USB 2.0 port
Power connector
Front Back
Multi-function
push button
Front Back
FireWire
(IEEE 1394a) ports
USB 2.0 port
Power connector
Multi-function push
button operations:
• Press and hold
button until LED
comes on
– 1st Power On
occurs.
• After Power On,
press button
– Initiates backup.
• Press and hold
button until LED
shuts off
– Power Down
occurs.
Note. BounceBack
Express does not
support the pushbutton
backup feature for a
Mac OS that is using
a USB interface.
Contents
The dual-interface external hard-drive kit
includes
• A Seagate external hard drive with a USB 2.0
interface, a FireWire (IEEE 1394a) interface, plus
a pushbutton backup feature
• A pedestal for vertical drive-orientation
• USB 2.0 and FireWire (IEEE 1394a) cables
• An AC-to-DC converter
• A country-specific power cord
• This guide
• The Seagate Disc Utility CD
The USB-only external hard-drive kit includes
• Seagate external hard drive with a USB 2.0
interface, plus a pushbutton backup feature.
Note. BounceBack Express does not support the pushbutton
backup feature for a Mac OS that is using a USB interface.
• A pedestal for vertical drive-orientation
• A USB 2.0 cable
• An AC-to-DC converter
• A country-specific power cord
• This guide
• The Seagate Disc Utility CD
3
External Hard Drive
4
Quick Start Guide
Requirements
Windows 98SE or later operating system with:
• a USB connector
or
• for a dual-interface kit, a Windows-certified,
OHCI-compliant FireWire (IEEE 1394a) controller
Microsoft maintains a list of Windows-certified
FireWire (IEEE 1394a) controller suppliers at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/catalog/.
Click the Hardware tab, and then select Other
Hardware/1394 controller for the complete list.
Macintosh System 9.2.2 (or higher) or
Mac OS X with:
• a USB connector
or
• for a dual-interface kit, an OHCI-compliant
FireWire connector
• Macintosh format (initialization) required.
See Mac format section on page 9
Note. BounceBack Express does not support the pushbutton
backup feature for a Mac OS that is using a USB interface.
Cautions
If your drive is turned on, don’t move it.
You can safely move your drive when the power LED
is OFF. If the power LED is lit when you move your
drive, you risk excessive wear, reduced reliability,
and possible data loss.
Dual-interface kit: Use only one interface
at a time.
Do not simultaneously connect USB and the FireWire
(IEEE 1394a) cables to your drive. However, you can
connect two FireWire cables to your drive at the same
time to daisy-chain FireWire devices.
Note. When using the FireWire (IEEE 1394a) connectors in
a daisy chain configuration, the drive must be powered on
for the pass through connection to function.
Multi-function push button operations.
• Press and hold button until LED comes on—
1st Power On occurs.
• After Power On, press button—initiates backup.
• Press and hold button until LED shuts off—
Power Down occurs.
5
External Hard Drive
Hardware setup
For a dual-interface kit
1. Plug the AC-power adapter into the hard drive
and the wall outlet.
2. Refer to the table below to select the fastest
interface that is supported by your computer,
and use that cable to connect the drive to
your computer. USB and FireWire (IEEE 1394a)
connectors have unique shapes, and each
connector is shaped to allow only one way
to connect.
Interface Transfer rate
USB 1.1 12 Mbits/sec
USB 2.0 480 Mbits/sec
FireWire (IEEE 1394a) 400 Mbits/sec
Note. When using the FireWire (IEEE 1394a) connectors in
a daisy chain configuration, the drive must be powered on
for the pass through connection to function.
Caution. Use only one interface at a time. If you
connect both the USB and the FireWire (IEEE 1394a)
cables to the same external drive at the same time,
you could damage the drive. However, it is OK to
connect two FireWire cables to the same drive at
the same time to daisy chain devices.
If you are a Macintosh user and you intend to use
the pushbutton-backup feature, you must use the
FireWire interface. BounceBack Express does not
support a Mac OS that is using a USB interface.
Continue to step 3 on page 6.
For a USB-only kit
1. Plug the AC power adapter into the hard drive
and the wall outlet.
2. Use the USB cable to connect the drive to
your computer.
Continue to step 3 on page 6.
USB
FireWire
(IEEE 1394a)
6
Quick Start Guide
For both dual-interface and USB-only kits
3. Press and hold the button on the front of the drive
until LED lights, to turn on power to the drive.
4. Turn on the power to your computer.
5. See page 7 for Windows OS information, or
page 9 for Macintosh OS information, including
installing drivers, reformatting and partitioning,
and dismounting your drive.
6. See page 12 to install and configure BounceBack
Express software to allow backups.
Note. For dual-interface kits, you must install and configure
BounceBack Express software to enable the pushbutton-backup
feature on your drive.
You don’t need to follow this hardware setup
sequence. Hardware setup steps 1 through 4
are a good way to connect your new drive to your
computer, but you don’t always need to follow this
sequence. For example, if you want to attach your
drive after your computer has already booted, you
can simply connect the interface cable, turn on
power to the drive, and your OS automatically
detects and mounts the drive. This is known
as hot-plugging.
In a hot-plug situation, it’s a good idea to connect
all power and interface cables to your drive, and to
place the drive where you want it to remain, before
you turn it on. This helps ensure that you won’t
need to move your drive after it’s running.
7
External Hard Drive
Windows OS
Installing drivers for your operating
system (OS)
Windows XP/Me/2000 Pro operating systems have
built-in, up-to-date drivers for both USB and FireWire
(IEEE 1394a) interfaces. You don’t need to install
any drivers if you are using one of these operating
systems, but make sure you have downloaded and
installed the latest service packs from Microsoft to
ensure that you have the latest drivers available for
your OS.
Windows 98SE using a USB interface: When
you connect the drive to your computer and turn
it on, Windows 98SE displays the Add New
Hardware wizard. This means the wizard needs
to find USB drivers, which are included on the
Seagate Disc Utility CD.
Follow these steps to install the drivers:
1. Insert the Seagate Disc Utility CD in your
computer’s CD-ROM drive.
2. Click the Next button. The wizard displays a
screen with two options.
3. Select the Search for the best driver for
your device option. The wizard displays four
check boxes.
4. Select the CD-ROM and Specify location
options. Locate the drivers in the Drivers USB
Win98 directory.
5. Click the Next button. The wizard installs the
appropriate drivers on your computer and tells
you when it has finished.
6. Click the Finish button to complete the installation.
7. Restart your computer, and your new drive is ready
to use.
Windows 98SE using a FireWire (IEEE 1394a)
interface (dual-interface kit only):
To use the
FireWire interface, you must download the Microsoft
Windows 98SE system update from Microsoft.
How to reformat and/or partition your drive
Your drive is factory-formatted for a FAT32 file
system and no further formatting is needed for
Windows operating systems. However, if you are
using Windows 2000 Pro or Windows XP and you
prefer to use an NTFS file system, you can reformat
with either the built-in Disk Management application
provided by Microsoft, or the Seagate DiscWizard™
for Windows application located in the Files directory
of the Seagate Disc Utility CD.
Caution. Reformatting destroys all data on the drive.
Back up any data that you want to keep before you
reformat the drive. Also, if you reformat to NTFS,
you must always log in to BounceBack Express
(see page 12) as an Administrator to ensure access
to your backup files.
What is partitioning?
Partitioning divides
the disc into separate
volumes. It does not
increase the capacity
of the drive. Creating
more than one partition
can be helpful in
organizing your information. For example,
you might want one
volume (partition) to
store your backups
and one volume for
applications or other
information. Each
volume receives its
own drive letter, so
each volume appears
to be a separate disc
drive in Windows
Explorer.