seagate Manager User Guide
Seagate Manager
User Guide
For Use With Your FreeAgent
TM
Drive
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 1
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive
Revision 1
© 2008 Seagate Technology LLC. All rights reserved. Seagate, Seagate Technology, the
Wave logo, and FreeAgent are trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology
LLC, or one of its affiliates. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of
their respective owners. When referring to hard drive capacity, one gigabyte, or GB, equals one
billion bytes and one terabyte, or TB, equals one thousand billion bytes when referring to hard
drive capacity. In addition, some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other
functions, and thus will not be available for data storage. Quantitative usage examples for
various applications are for illustrative purposes. Actual quantities will vary based on various
factors including file size, file format, features, and application software. Seagate reserves the
right to change, without notice, product offerings or specifications.
Seagate Technology LLC
920 Disc Drive
Scotts Valley CA 95066 U.S.A.
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 2
Contents
Contents
Getting Started.............................................................................................................. 5
Using the Seagate Status Icon ...................................................... 5
Restoring the Seagate Status Icon .................................. 6
FreeAgent Drive Light ...................................................................... 7
Managing Your Drives............................................................................................ 8
Using the My Drives Window ........................................................ 8
Settings ................................................................................................... 9
Adjusting the Power Setting ............................................. 9
Testing Your Drive .............................................................. 10
Updating Your Software .................................................... 10
Adjust LED Control ............................................................. 11
Drive Info .............................................................................................. 11
Backing Up and Restoring Folders and Files.................................. 12
Backup Features ............................................................................... 12
Backup Plans for Your Drive ............................................ 13
Creating a Backup Plan .................................................................. 13
Using Simple Backup .......................................................... 13
Creating a Custom Backup .............................................. 14
Drive Rotation...................................................................... 15
Managing Backup Settings
Editing Backup Settings .................................................... 16
Deleting a Backup Plan ..................................................... 17
Using Scheduled Backup .................................................. 17
........................................................... 16
Backing Up Manually ......................................................... 18
Viewing the Backup Log ................................................... 18
Restoring Files..................................................................... 19
Restoring an Historical Version
Restoring Most Recent Version ..................................... 19
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 3
..................................... 19
Contents
Synchronizing Folders .......................................................................................... 21
Using Simple Sync ............................................................................ 22
Using Custom Sync .......................................................................... 22
Using Sync Encryption ....................................................... 24
Completing the Sync ....................................................................... 24
Editing Sync Settings ...................................................................... 25
Checking Sync Status ...................................................................... 25
Deleting Sync Settings ....................................................... 26
Using Automatic Sync ..................................................................... 26
Turning Off Automatic Sync ............................................ 26
Using the Sync Preview Window ............................................... 27
Using Automatic Overwrite ............................................. 28
Managing Security................................................................................................... 29
Creating an Encryption Folder .................................................... 29
Managing an Encryption Folder ................................................. 31
Changing Your Encryption Password ......................... 31
Deleting an Encryption Folder ........................................ 32
Opening an Encryption folder ........................................ 33
Decrypting Files and Folders .......................................... 33
Deleting Files and Folders from an
Encryption folder ................................................................. 34
Seagate SecureTM Storage Devices .................................... 35
Unlocking Your Drive .......................................................... 36
Changing the Password for Your Drive ...................... 37
Using the Password Hint .................................................. 37
Erasing Your Drive .............................................................. 40
Index...................................................................................................................................... 43
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 4
Getting Started Using the Seagate Status Icon
Getting Started
The Seagate Manager software, included with your FreeAgentTM drive, adds a powerful set of
tools to your drive:
• Backup and restore features to enable you to protect your data.
• Sync, to synchronize one or more folders between two or more computers.
• Security features, including encryption of multiple files and folders in one location, as
well as backup and sync encryption. Not available in all regions or with all products.
• Settings to control power management, software updates, drive lights and more.
The features described in this guide (except where noted) are compatible with all Seagate
FreeAgent and Maxtor OneTouch drives and the Windows XP and Vista operating systems.
Using the Seagate Status Icon
After you install your drive, the Seagate Status icon appears in the taskbar notification area on
your computer desktop. You can use this icon to check the status of your drive and to access
the drive features.
Step 1: To check the status of your drive, roll your mouse over the Seagate icon:
Figure 1: Seagate Taskbar Icon
The information popup confirms the drive’s status and identifies the drive letter.
The color of the Seagate Status icon informs you of the drive’s status:
Blue Drive connected
Green Drive connected, backup passed and sync idle
Yellow Backup or sync in progress
Gray No drive connected
Red Backup or sync failed
Note: When a backup or sync has failed, the red icon continues to display until the next
successful backup or sync. You can view the log file to determine why the backup failed.
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 5
Getting Started Using the Seagate Status Icon
Step 2: To display the Seagate Status menu, click the taskbar icon:
Figure 2: Seagate Status Menu
Step 3: Select the feature you want to access or select Exit to close the menu.
Restoring the Seagate Status Icon
If you exit from the Seagate Status menu, the Seagate icon disappears from the taskbar
notification area. To restore the Seagate Status icon to the taskbar notification area, go to
Start > Programs > Seagate > Seagate Manager > Seagate Status Icon
Figure 3: Restore Seagate Status Icon
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 6
Getting Started FreeAgent Drive Light
FreeAgent Drive Light
The light on your FreeAgent drive flashes to indicate various drive states. The following
information applies to all FreeAgent drives.
Drive State Light
Off or Hibernate Off
Idle 90% illumination
Active (data transfer) Slow flashing between 90% and 20% illumination
Standby (disk not spinning) 20% illumination
Unmounted or cable removed Off
Error Fast flashing
See “Adjust LED Control” on page 11for information about controlling the lights on the drive.
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 7
Managing Your Drives Using the My Drives Window
Command Panel
Help
Managing Your Drives
The My Drives window provides a central point from which to manage your Seagate FreeAgent
device. This is the default window that appears when you open Seagate Manager.
You can also get to the My Drives window by clicking the My Drives button in the Command
Panel from any other window within the software.
Figure 4: My Drives Window
Using the My Drives Window
In the My Drives window, you first select your drive and then the feature you want to use with it.
The Command Panel across the top of the window allows you to access Seagate Manager’s
features: Backup, Sync and Security.
The middle of the My Drives window displays the connected drive. If there is more than one
drive connected, there will be a list of drives to choose from. The drive that is currently selected
is highlighted in light blue (as shown in Figure 4).
• To select a different drive, click the drive icon or partition name.
• To access advanced settings for the selected drive, click the Settings button.
• For more information, see “Settings” on page 9.
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 8
Managing Your Drives Settings
• To get more information about the selected drive, click the Drive Info button.
For more information, see “Drive Info” on page 11.
Any time you need help, you can click the Seagate Manager help icon. If you are not able to
find the answer to your question, you can click the Customer Support button to go to Seagate’s
Support website.
Note: External drives are automatically detected and listed in the My Drives window. It can take a
few seconds for the Seagate Manager software to detect your device. If your device
doesn’t appear, make sure it’s properly connected and turned on. All Seagate and Maxtor
external drives are detected.
Settings
The Settings button, located at the bottom of the My Drives window, allows you to access the
following features for the selected drive:
• Adjust Power Settting
• Test My Drive
• Adjust LED Control
• Check for Software Update
Adjusting the Power Setting
You can choose how long your drive should remain inactive before it goes into power-saving
mode.
Power-saving mode conserves energy by telling your drive’s internal storage disk to stop
spinning when it is not in use. Though power-saving mode uses less electricity, it takes a little
more time for your drive to become active again when you want to use it.
If you use your drive a lot, you may want to choose a longer time interval, so that your work is
not interrupted when opening files from or saving files to your drive.
If you use your drive less frequently, you may want to choose a shorter time interval, so that
your drive is not consuming more energy than it needs.
To adjust the power setting:
Step 1: In the My Drives window, select the drive you want to adjust and
click Settings.
The Settings window opens.
Step 2: Click Adjust Power Setting.
The Adjust Power Setting window opens.
Step 3: Select an interval from the drop-down menu or click Default to return to the original
power setting time for the drive.
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 9
Managing Your Drives Settings
Step 4: Click Apply to save the power setting.
The Adjust Power Setting window confirms that the power setting for your drive
has been changed.
Step 5: Click OK to return to the My Drives window.
Testing Your Drive
Test your drive to check the health of your drive. The diagnostic utility performs its tests without
affecting the data on your drive.
To test your drive:
Step 1: In the My Drives window, select the drive you want to test and
click Settings.
The Settings window opens.
Step 2: Click Test My Drive.
The Test My Drive window opens.
Step 3: Click Test.
A progress bar indicates the progress of the test. When the test is complete, the
results are displayed.
If the diagnostic encounters an error during testing, the serial number of the bad
device is displayed with instructions to contact Seagate for service and support.
Step 4: Click OK.
Updating Your Software
The Software Update feature automatically informs you when an update is available for your
software. You can also manually check to see if an update is available or you can turn off the
Software Update feature.
To check for software updates:
Step 1: In the My Drives window, click Settings.
The Settings window opens.
Step 2: Click Check for Software Update.
The Software Update window opens.
Check for updates automatically is selected by default.
Step 3: To turn off Software Update, deselect Check for updates automatically.
Step 4: To check for updates now, click Check Now.
A Software Update window appears to inform you whether your software is up to
date or not.
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 10
Managing Your Drives Drive Info
If new software is available, you can download it from this window. To find out
more information about the new software, click More Info.
Adjust LED Control
The LED Control feature allows you to control the lights on your drive. Your drive lights flicker
to indicate drive activity and status.
Note: This feature is only available for FreeAgent drives.
Step 1: In the My Drives window, select the drive you want to adjust and
click Settings.
The Settings window opens.
Step 2: Click Adjust LED Control.
The Drive Lights window opens.
Step 3: To turn the drive lights off, click Turn lights off and click Apply.
To turn the drive lights back on, click Display status and activity lights and click
Apply.
The drive lights may automatically turn back on in the following situations:
• If power is turned off and back on for the drive
• If the drive is disconnected and reconnected
Drive Info
The Drive Info feature provides the following information about your drive:
• Volume
The name of your drive.
• Capacity
The total capacity of your drive.
• Free Space
The amount of space remaining on your drive.
• File System
The Windows file system of your drive.
To view the Drive Info for your drive:
Step 1: In the My Drives window, select the drive you want information about and click
Drive Info.
The Drive Information window opens.
Step 2: To close the Drive Information window, click OK.
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 11
Backing Up and Restoring Folders and Files Backup Features
Backing Up and Restoring Folders and Files
With Seagate Manager, you can back up valuable files to your FreeAgent drive.
Each file you choose to back up from your computer is copied to your drive. If you ever lose
one of the original files on your computer, you can easily restore it from the backup version.
For increased data security, you can back up your files to an encrypted folder on your drive.
Folder encryption uses AES 256-bit encryption to ensure your private files can’t be accessed
without your encryption password.
Figure 5: Backup
Backup Features
The Seagate Manager Backup features allow you to:
• Schedule the backup of selected folders
• Edit backup settings
• Launch an immediate file backup
• Use the same backup plan for multiple drives
• Restore backed-up files
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 12
Backing Up and Restoring Folders and Files Creating a Backup Plan
• Back up your files to an encrypted folder
After the initial backup, Seagate Manager backs up changed files in designated folders
according to a schedule you set, or when you click Back Up Now in the Backup window.
Note: The Seagate Manager backup feature does not back up locked files.
Backup Plans for Your Drive
You can create one Backup Plan for each drive connected to your computer. You can select
either of two types of Backup Plans:
• Simple Backup: Pre-configured to back up your XP My Documents folder or your
Vista Personal Folder daily at 10:00 p.m.
— OR —
• Custom Backup: You select the folders to be backed up and set a backup
destination and schedule.
— OR —
• Drive Rotation: You can use the same backup plan with two or more drives.
Creating a Backup Plan
Seagate Manager provides several options for creating a backup plan:
• Using Simple Backup
• Creating a Custom Backup
• Drive Rotation (for more than one drive)
Using Simple Backup
Use Simple Backup to back up your XP My Documents folder or your Vista Personal Folder
daily at 10 p.m.
To use Simple Backup:
Step 1: Click My Drives in the Command panel.
The My Drives page opens.
Step 2: Select the drive to which you want to back up.
Step 3: Click Backup in the Command panel.
The Backup window opens.
Step 4: Click Simple Backup.
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 13
Backing Up and Restoring Folders and Files Creating a Backup Plan
A Simple Backup Confirmation window confirms that you’ve selected Simple
Backup and asks you to name this Backup Plan.
Step 5: Enter a name for your Backup Plan and click OK.
Scheduled backup is turned on. The Backup window now offers the options of
editing your backup settings, restoring backed-up files and deleting backup plans.
It also describes your Backup Plan.
Creating a Custom Backup
To select specific folders and a schedule for backup to your drive:
Step 1: Click My Drives in the Command panel.
The My Drives page opens.
Step 2: Select the drive to which you want to back up.
Step 3: Click Backup in the Command panel.
The Backup window opens.
Step 4: In the Backup window, click Custom Backup.
The Backup Folder Selection window opens.
Step 5: Name your Backup Plan, select the folders to be backed up, and click Next.
The Backup File Types window opens.
Step 6: Select the types of files you want to back up:
• All File Types
• Photos, Music, Videos, Documents
• Custom
Select specific file types to include or exclude for backup:
— To back up only a few of the available file types:
1. Select Include these file types.
2. Select each file type you do want to back up and click Add to move it to the
Include list.
— To back up most of the available file types,
1. Select Exclude these file types.
2. Select each file type you don’t want to back up and click Add to move it to
the Exclude list.
Note: File extensions are the suffix characters to the right of a file name that define the file
format.
Seagate Manager User Guide for Use With Your FreeAgent™ Drive 14
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