Seagate FreeAgent Desktop External HD 500 GB USB2

Perhaps a silly question???

I purchased and received the above external hard drive but can't find a button on the device to turn it off and on. I looked everywhere on the drive where it could be, searched on Seagate's support forum to find answers but couldn't find any info about it either. Perhaps there is NO power button on this drive? :eek

I want to turn it off when not in use and don't like to unplug the cables if not needed.

Hopefully, one of you will know and tell me about it? Thank you!

 

I have that exact drive hooked up to my xbox 360 as a media drive. If you can't find a power switch that is because it doesn't have on. It auto powers down. That is why you may have noticed slight lag when first accessing it after periods of inactivity. If the light bar is on the drive is powered up, if it is pulsing it is actively reading/writing, and it is off you either have the unit unplugged or it has shut its self off to save power. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for your reply Lanfear.

That's a bummer!! This drive only shuts off when I turn off my computer at night. Sofar it hasn't powered off on it's own.

When I read some Seagate reviews on the internet prior to purchasing, it was mentioned that the power button of those drives was hidden/hard to find. So I assumed that my specific HD would have the same feature, but obviously it doesn't. I plan to use it to backup/image my C Drive so I won't need it that often.

 

FWIW, I have an external WD hd that has a power button but pressing it only causes the blue light to blink - it never powers off. It has been connected to 4 different computers and shows the same behavior with all of them.

 

Yeah, it was a tossup for me whether to get a WD or a Seagate. I would be terribly annoyed if my Seagate would have a power button and would be useless.

 

Oma, I have that exact external drive and i bought it exclusively for backup as well. I don't mind the fact that it doesn't have an off button because I only hook it up when I want to make an image and afterwords I store it under the counter. Just think how long the drive will last only being plugged in for an hour at a time every 1 or 2 months.

There is a certain way your supposed to turn this thing off for removal to avoid corruption of your data. On is : Plug in power > then > plug in USB (drive will be detected) and OFF is : Safely remove USB Device from tray > Unplug Power > Unplug USB. I go thru this everytime but since it goes into a cabinet once unhooked I don't mind. Its a small price to pay to keep the device cool and operating for years. You don't have to store it in a cabinet either, you can leave it right where its at, just leave it unplugged until you want to use it. I put a little sticker on top to remind me of the start and stop order since I only use it every few months.

 

I have a Segate Free Agent Pro 500GB external usb drive. It's fantastic! It has a power button right on the front base. It's not just any kind of power button either. It's touch sensitive so you don't press anything you just put your finger on it for about 4 seconds and the drive will turn off/on. Maybe you have the same one and just never noticed that? It doesn't even look like a button since it doesn't "pop out" like a button should. It's like that nifty finger security devices you see agents use on doors in the movies.

 

Thanks for your reply superstar. No, I don't have the Seagate PRO, just the regular one. Since I researched a little on the Seagate I thought that all Seagates would have a power button, but am sure that mine doesn't have one. Wish now that I would have purchased the PRO just for that power button.

 

Appzalien, thank you so very much for the tips you gave me! I printed the info out for safekeeping and for future reference.

 

Take it back if you still can and switch it for a newer pro version. If not sell it on ebay. People will still pay top dollar for them. Than go out and get a pro version. :wave

 

Thanks for your advise superstar. However, there is only a limited return on this item and I created already an image on the Seagate Free Agent Desktop HD. Don't know how to remove it - more work too. So I've taken Appzalien's advise, removed the HD and unplugged it. I will use the HD only for imaging the C Drive every month or so anyway, no incremental backups. I'm using the free Acronis TI version 8 software to do it.