External Hard Drive Question

[Amy]

Yes, I'm way behind the curve here, but I finally went to Best Buy and bought an external hard drive for copying my pictures to. Now I'll have them on my C drive, the new external drive, and CD's.

This is a Seagate external drive, USB2 interface, but it also has its own power cord plugged into our power strip under the desk. The external drive has a yellow light when it's on.

My question: when I shut down the computer, the external drive stays on. Is it supposed to do that? I know some people NEVER shut down their computers, so it should be ok if it stays on, but I'm one of those who shut down every night before going to bed. The computer itself is off, but the external hard drive stays on. Is that normal or is something wrong with it?

 

[handicap18]

There should be an on/off switch on it. I have 2 external HD's and both have the on/off switch. They are not attached to the computers power so you'll have to shut it off yourself.

 

[Groucho]

I was just researching Seagate external drives today for a project at work... I think that they usually are set to turn themselves off (or go into a "sleep" mode) when the PC goes to sleep or is turned off. Try putting your ear to the drive when you know that it's on and working and you should hear the slight hum of the platters spinning inside. Try turning everything off and see if you still hear the sound (it may take a couple minutes before it actually does, in case you're going to turn the PC right back on.) If it's silent but the light's on, then you should be fine.

Your PC can do the same; in your Power Management settings, you can set how it behaves - you can set it so that everything goes to sleep after, say, 30 minutes of inactivity. At that point, the monitor, hard drive, etc pretty much shut down, the CPU fan may slow, and the PC will use very little power.

Of course, I prefer instant response when I go to my PC, so I turn off most power management stuff and leave 'em on 24x7 anyway.

 

[barrie]

I have an Iomega external drive. For more than a year I unplugged it when I turned off my computer because I didn't realize it had an on/off button - and it was right next to the plug I was taking in and out everyday! Duh!

 

[SharonLowe]

I have 6 external hard drives Some of them turn off with the computer and some don't. I haven't figured out the algorithm as to why they act the way they do. Best to shut down when computer is off since they don't need to be running all the time.

 

[Gdad]

I have a Seagate external drive- I may be mistaken but I do not think it has a switch. I also notice the light seems to stay on sometimes when I expect it would be out (computer off or 'sleeping') but I also notice that when the computer is in use the drive is warm to the touch and you can feel it vibrating slightly- but before I 'wake-up' the computer it is cool and still. I'm not concerned with the glow- I kind of like it.

 

[Amy]

I was just researching Seagate external drives today for a project at work... I think that they usually are set to turn themselves off (or go into a "sleep" mode) when the PC goes to sleep or is turned off. Try putting your ear to the drive when you know that it's on and working and you should hear the slight hum of the platters spinning inside. Try turning everything off and see if you still hear the sound (it may take a couple minutes before it actually does, in case you're going to turn the PC right back on.) If it's silent but the light's on, then you should be fine.

Nope - I shut down at night before I go to bed, and I noticed in the morning the external drive is warm and you can very faintly hear it whirring. No on/off switch, either.

I have a Seagate external drive- I may be mistaken but I do not think it has a switch. I also notice the light seems to stay on sometimes when I expect it would be out (computer off or 'sleeping') but I also notice that when the computer is in use the drive is warm to the touch and you can feel it vibrating slightly- but before I 'wake-up' the computer it is cool and still. I'm not concerned with the glow- I kind of like it.

I'm going to pay more attention tomorrow morning, but I'm sure the external drive is warm even after I shut down the computer the night before.

It's funny - my boys got home from school and called to tell me that the power went off at some point during the day since the microwave and other things were blinking. And the external drive's light was off and it was cool as a cucumber. So after a total power loss, it won't come back on, but it'll stay on after you shut down the computer. Weird. Guess I'll just have to get used to it.

 

[Amy]

Update: Well, looks like I'm going to have to deal with Seagate support on this external hard drive. Windows and My Computer recognized the drive when I installed it Tues, and I was able to copy my pictures to it. When I shut down last night, the external drive also shut down. But when I booted up this morning and went into My Computer, it showed C as my only hard drive. So I tried plugging the external drive into another USB port while the computer was on, and I got an error message that Windows didn't recognize this USB device. Tried another USB port and got the same error message. Even tried re-starting again after switching USB ports. Didn't work. The drive is on and I can hear it whirring, but the computer won't recognize it. Dang! Computers are so frustrating!!

 

[AndrewWG]

Amy,

I had that same problem with a hard drive enclosure I bought last year. It worked fine at first, then it wouldn't recognize it at all. It frustrated me to the point that I took the hard drive out of the enclosure and put it in my computer. Worked fine in there and that is where it will stay. You can't do that with a store bought external hard drive though. At least I don' think so.

 

[SharonLowe]

Update: Well, looks like I'm going to have to deal with Seagate support on this external hard drive. Windows and My Computer recognized the drive when I installed it Tues, and I was able to copy my pictures to it. When I shut down last night, the external drive also shut down. But when I booted up this morning and went into My Computer, it showed C as my only hard drive. So I tried plugging the external drive into another USB port while the computer was on, and I got an error message that Windows didn't recognize this USB device. Tried another USB port and got the same error message. Even tried re-starting again after switching USB ports. Didn't work. The drive is on and I can hear it whirring, but the computer won't recognize it. Dang! Computers are so frustrating!!

Do you have a disk utility program on your computer like Norton? If so, run it to repair the disk. I wish I could help more but I use a Mac now and tossed out all my Windows knowledge. I use a program called Disk Warrior which is just great when I have disk problems (and they do happen). They don't do a version for PCs but I am sure there is something out there you could try.

 

[manning]

Was there power to the Seagate on

If the external HD is not on the computer will not see it.

 

[Amy]

Well, I had hoped to use this as a regular hard drive and have it running and available while the computer was on, but it looks like I have to treat it like a portable/travel drive. Yes, manning, the power to the external drive was on (the yellow light was glowing and I could hear the disks whirring inside). I kept trying diff. USB ports and kept getting an error message that Windows could not recognize the drive. I went online and followed Seagate's troubleshooting steps with no success. (And of course to speak to someone you have call between 6am and 8pm M-F, so I'm out of luck this weekend.)

Then I tried unplugging the power cord (while the computer was on) and plugged it back in, and viola! The drive was recognized. So I guess if this drive had an on/off switch, I could just turn it off when I shut down the computer at night and turn it back on when I power up again. With no on/off switch, looks like I have to crawl under the desk to unplug it from the power strip. And if that's the case, then I'll only plug it in when I'll need it to copy files.

I'm still going to call Seagate next week and see if there's something else I can do, but at least now I have a work-around. A pain-in-the-you-know-what work-around, but at least I figured out a way to access that external drive.

 

[DueyDooDah]

Sounds like the USB port is being finiky (technical term). If this happens again, the easiest fix is to rescan for hardware. To do so, perform the following steps:

- Click on Start then right click on My Computer
- Select Properties then find Device Manager (different if you have Vista or XP)
- Right-click on Disk Drives the select Scan for hardware changes

This usually works when this problem arises. If it does, please send the $150 service charge to your favorite Disney Charity

 

[Amy]

Sounds like the USB port is being finiky (technical term). If this happens again, the easiest fix is to rescan for hardware. To do so, perform the following steps:

- Click on Start then right click on My Computer
- Select Properties then find Device Manager (different if you have Vista or XP)
- Right-click on Disk Drives the select Scan for hardware changes

This usually works when this problem arises. If it does, please send the $150 service charge to your favorite Disney Charity

Well, I tried this and it didn't work. (Does this mean I don't have to pay the service charge? ) Guess I'll be spending some time with Seagate support tomorrow. Sigh.....

 

[boBQuincy]

Update: snip... But when I booted up this morning and went into My Computer, it showed C as my only hard drive. So I tried plugging the external drive into another USB port while the computer was on, and I got an error message that Windows didn't recognize this USB device....snip

We have seen the same error message when som device is tying up the USB ports, usually a printer. Shutting off or unplugging the printer usually clears the problem.
I have the same external hard drive and so far it has been ok. I use the USB "safely remove hardware" button and unplug the USB cable before unplugging the power supply. It does seem really cheap that Seagate didn't include a power switch!

 

[manning]

What operating system are you using.

 

[Groucho]

Check Device Manager - rt-click My Computer then Manage, and go to Device Manager. Normally, the external drive listed is under Disk Drives. If it's not recognizing it, it'll probably be listed elsewhere (other or unknown devices, don't remember off the top of my head) - try rt-clicking and Uninstalling it, then rt-click your computer's name (at the very top of the list of devices) and click Scan for Hardware Changes and see if that helps.

AndrewWG, you can open up a store-bought external drive and put the drive inside your PC, but you'll void your warranty, unsurprisingly. One of my 160g drives (currently using 3x160 plus a 500) used to be in an external case, someone gave it to me and I prefer an internal drive, so in it went...

 

[Amy]

What operating system are you using.

Windows XP, and I DO have Service Pack 2 installed and regularly check for updates. It's a Dell computer if that makes any difference.

Check Device Manager - rt-click My Computer then Manage, and go to Device Manager. Normally, the external drive listed is under Disk Drives. If it's not recognizing it, it'll probably be listed elsewhere (other or unknown devices, don't remember off the top of my head) - try rt-clicking and Uninstalling it, then rt-click your computer's name (at the very top of the list of devices) and click Scan for Hardware Changes and see if that helps.

Somebody earlier on this thread suggested this, I tried it and it didn't work.

I'll get in touch with Seagate support when I get home from work tonight. I'm starting to think the drive is defective. I leave it plugged into the USB port. If I have the ext. drive's power cord plugged in when I start up my computer, the ext. drive is not recognized. AND....my computer doesn't boot up properly - I just get a black screen, none of the usual boot-up messages. I have to hit the power button to shut down and then start it up again. Maybe my computer is trying to boot up from the ext. drive rather than my C drive and it doesn't find Windows on the ext. drive so it doesn't know what to do?

If I have the power cord unplugged and then plug it in once the computer is started, then the ext. drive IS recognized.

So....it's either defective, or I have to treat it like one of those little flash drives and only plug it in when I'm going to copy photos, etc. to the drive. Crawling under the desk to plug/unplug the power cord is a pain!! Or I return it to Best Buy and try another brand....

 

[Amy]

I just finished an online chat with Seagate support. And I was right: he said that it looks like when I boot up my computer, the computer is looking to the ext. drive rather than my C drive and is trying to boot from the ext. drive and that's why it won't recognize the ext. drive.

He said I need a BIOS adjustment to disable USB Boot. However, when I asked him what this is and how I do it, he said: "The BIOS of your computer is proprietary so you will have to contact the manufacturer of the computer to find out how to disable that on your computer."

So now it looks like I have to contact Dell support to find out how to disable USB boot. I think I'll save that for tomorrow's project........

 

[Amy]

I decided not to wait until tomorrow to contact Dell. It took a while, but I got the steps to disable the USB Boot in the BIOS, and it seems to have worked! My computer doesn't try to boot from the external hard drive, and it now also recognizes the ext. drive in "My Computer." YIPPEE!!

Thanks for all your help and suggestions guys! You know, I have a pretty boring job without much reward or sense of accomplishment (except for pay day), so when I can do something like this, I really feel proud of myself! I mean, I just fiddled with my computer's BIOS - that's one thing you're never supposed to mess with, but I did and it worked!