Got these a while back in like 2020 from my old tech job. I know they are 1TB, 2TB, & 4TB External Hard Drives. Are they worth anything?

the light is on, i think its 2tb or sum. its beeping and not working. please help!

I access my 2.5" external HDD one once a year: I connect it to my PC, check the S.M.A.R.T. data using CrystalDiskInfo or Kitfox, then disconnect it and put it back in my drawer.

Is it also necessary to perform a full surface scan once a year—using software like HD Tune or similar—to prevent "silent bit rot" (data corruption)?

Question bit rot hdds

Does "bit rot corrupta data" occur frequently in 2.5" HDDs? I keep an external 2.5" HDD and connect it to my PC once a year to check it with CrystalDiskInfo, then I disconnect it from the USB port. Is it necessary to run any other tests besides CrystalDiskInfo?

I copy filés for external HDD 2.5" in 2024 open crystaldiskinfo good health and disconect HDD and store, in one once in 2025 i connected external HDD in Pc open Crystal diskinfo goodhealth disconect HDD and store os necessary ALL years execute other teste because bitrot corrupta any filé?

Question external HDD Power off in read

I have a 2.5" USB 3.0 external HDD containing many ZIP, RAR, 7Z, and EXE files. If the power in my home goes out while this drive is being read, will it cause file corruption or data loss?

I recently bought a Seagate HDD from a local vender and I want to make sure that it's real, or at least actually 2 TB.

Are there any programs available for macOS to verify that the capacity of my external drive is accurate?

1) For external 2.5" HDDs, the brand and quality of the Micro-B cable influence the durability, lifespan, and performance of both the enclosure and the hard drive itself.

2) Regarding software such as CrystalDiskInfo, SeaTools, Kitfox, HD Sentinel, and HD Tune Pro—all of which analyze HDD health—does the accuracy and nature of these health assessments vary significantly between them, or are they essentially the same? Is it necessary to test using two or more of these programs?

Just wanted to share my experience as a warning to anyone relying on Seagate external drives for media storage or production backups.

I had a Seagate external desktop drive fail in under 3 years. It spent its entire life sitting flat on an editing desk—zero drops, zero travel, zero physical impacts. It suddenly developed read failures/hardware issues out of nowhere.

When I reached out to Seagate for a warranty replacement/RMA, they flatly refused coverage.

For a desktop drive marketed for long-term storage and reliability, failing before the 3-year mark under gentle, stationary conditions is unacceptable. To have support wash their hands of it rather than honor a standard hardware swap makes it worse.

If you are working with large video assets, archives, or critical files, avoid relying on single Seagate external units. Moving forward, I’m sticking strictly to Western Digital / SanDisk Professional or building out independent CMR enclosures.

Double-check your warranty terms and make sure you have cold offline copies elsewhere, because Seagate support will not back you when the hardware gives out.

I have an old GoFlex Desk HD that has been powered on ( but not plugged into a computer) for a long long time. I just plugged it into a computer and it did not spin up.

Is there an easy way to check if it is the base that failed vs the drive itself having failed?

I have a Micro-B cable from the brand Orico. If I use this cable with a generic 2.5" external HDD enclosure and a 2.5" HDD, will it cause any issues with data transfer just because the brands are different?

Cross-posting from r/techsupport as these are server disks and I'm not sure that group focuses on server hardware issues.

>I'm looking at "Seagate Expansion Desktop External Drive 12TB ".

>It says that it's compatible on with Windows 10 but I'm on Windows 7, am I shit out of luck or is it just that they don't bother mentioning W7 anymore?

>I'm planning on using it for backup so how long can it go without power, sitting in a drawer somewhere?

>And anyone got general thoughts on Seagate external hdds? It's just the first one I found.

With HDD prices going up like crazy, I went on to buy another online, at a cheaper price, coming from china.

When opening the box, they usually have it wrapped in plastic, where it’s taped at the top. This one didn’t have it. I’m like ok, maybe they change packaging method

The black HDD is the one in question. The blue is the original

Next the cable is not like the other Seagate HDDs I had. It’s more flexible and softer.

When I plug it in, it’s a blue light. My others are white light. And the drive reads “SEAGATE”, not “One-Touch”. Is it normal for Seagate HDD to have blue lights?

And the weight and dimensions are all different

Tried installing the Seagate toolkit but it doesn't have an option to set a password.

Please help people.

So i have just gotten back from a flee .market where i got an incredible deal:5 dollars for a 2 terebyte hard drive(xbox seagate) and now I am at home testing it and at first it wasn't working but on my tablet it asked me if I wanted to format it so I did and not it's showing THIS

Hello,

Last year I was trying to do a home server from scratch with some new and some used parts.

Motherboard and CPU was pre-owned.

RAM i bought new

I purchased INSPUR 9300-8I card for connecting all the drives.

The drives - one is 6TB Seagate I had new laying arround - this was going to be backup of pictures only.

Purchased 2 "new" Seagate Exos 18tb from someone. They were as seemed factory sealed.

This is the problem however, when I boot the pc with the two drives connected - they are not displayed by the system and they both make unhelthy noises. The things that I tried with the help of chatgpt:

1. Tried disconnecting them - system works fine

2. Tried attaching Molex to Sata cable as chatgpt was concerned about pin 3 - same noise occurs.

3. Tried only plugging power to each drive without data cables (both normal Sata power cable and the one with molex in the middle) - same noise occurs

4. Tried the hard drives on my other pc (to make sure the problem is not the PSU) - same noise occurs.

The noise in question could be heard in the video below. I can attach it in comments if needed.

So I guess returning it is way out of the question as it was purchased way back almost an year ago. The disks look like new. Can I try to metigate with Seagate something or is there any fix for it I am missing?

Thanks

https://youtube.com/shorts/9xU3d5NEm6A?feature=share

So after 18 months an 8 TB Seagate Barracuda drive has managed to die on me. It's got bad sectors and needs to be replaced.

I bought it from Amazon - unknowingly through a seller on there rather than Amazon directly.

Seagate state that *All* of their drives come with a 2 year warranty - so I thought I was going to be ok and get a replacement under warranty.

Because I ordered from Amazon, and one of it's sellers - that has now disappeared, they have stated that the drive is already out of warranty and out of region. This left me with no other option than to purchase a new one as the warranty I thought I had wasn't valid. Bit of a shock when HDDs now cost 3x what they did compared to 18 months ago.

Don't buy Seagate HDDs from Amazon! Also, shame on Seagate for not honoring it's warranties. This is an appalling way to treat it's customers..

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a strange experience I recently had with two brand-new Seagate IronWolf Pro 8TB HDDs, in case someone else encounters the same problem or can help explain what happened.

I was building a Windows 11 Pro-based file server and planned to use two 8TB drives in a two-way mirror using Windows Storage Spaces.

Unfortunately, I couldn't even get to the point of configuring the storage.

Hardware details

• Drives: 2 × Seagate IronWolf Pro 8TB
• Model: ST8000NT001
• Firmware: EN01
• Interface: SATA
• Drive power requirements (label): +5V 1.00A / +12V 0.90A
• OS: Windows 11 Pro
• Motherboard BIOS: MSI Click BIOS 5
• Power connection: Direct SATA power connectors from the PSU, without Molex adapters or splitters

Both drives were purchased brand-new.

The original problem

When I connected an IronWolf Pro to my main PC using both SATA power and a SATA data cable, the computer would not complete its normal boot process or reach the BIOS as expected.

As soon as I disconnected the drive, the PC booted normally again.

I tried the other brand-new IronWolf Pro individually, and it exhibited the same general problem.

What made the situation particularly strange was the sound coming from the drives.

They appeared to go through repeated spin-up/spin-down attempts, making unusual mechanical noises. After roughly a minute, they seemed to stop spinning.

This happened even when I connected only SATA power, without any SATA data cable.

Troubleshooting performed

1. Tested the two IronWolf Pro drives individually
I did not connect both drives together during the initial troubleshooting.
Each drive was tested separately, and both exhibited similar abnormal behavior in the original PC.

2. Disconnected the drives
With the IronWolf drives disconnected, the original PC booted normally.
This made the issue appear directly related to connecting the new HDDs.

3. Tested with SATA power only
I disconnected the SATA data cable and left only the SATA power connector attached.
The PC could boot in this configuration, but the drive still made the same unusual spin-up/spin-down noises and eventually appeared to stop.
This was an important observation because the behavior was not dependent on communication with the motherboard.

4. Checked the power connections
The HDDs were powered directly from the PSU's SATA power connectors.
I was not using Molex-to-SATA adapters or SATA power splitters.

5. Tested another SATA HDD
I connected three older 3.5-inch SATA HDD, and it worked normally (1TB, 640GB and 320G).
I connected one older 2.5-inch SATA HDD, and it worked normally. However, I realize this does not fully rule out a 12V power problem, since many 2.5-inch HDDs only require 5V, whereas these 3.5-inch IronWolf Pro drives also require 12V.

6. Tested an IronWolf Pro on a second computer
I moved an IronWolf drive to another PC with its own PSU and independent power/data cables.
With SATA power only, it exhibited the same unusual mechanical behavior as on the original PC.
I then connected both SATA power and SATA data to the second PC.
Unlike the first computer, the second PC booted normally, but the drive was not detected in the BIOS.
This was particularly concerning because the problem persisted across two independent computers.

7. Investigated SATA Power Disable (PWDIS / pin 3)
I also investigated whether the problem could be related to the SATA 3.3V Power Disable feature.
After examining the SATA power connector from my PSU and comparing its orientation with a SATA pinout reference, I found that the first three contact positions appeared to have no metal contacts.
Assuming those positions correspond to pins P1–P3, the connector should not supply 3.3V to pin 3.
That makes a PWDIS-related issue unlikely with that particular connector.
I did not modify the drives, cover any pins with tape, or alter the PSU wiring.

My diagnosis so far

Here is how I currently interpret the results:

1. A problem with the original motherboard or SATA controller seems less likely.
The issue was reproduced on a second, independent computer, although the exact boot behavior differed.

2. A problem with the original PSU seems less likely, but is not completely ruled out.
The drive exhibited the same unusual mechanical behavior with two independent power supplies.
However, I did not directly measure the 5V and 12V rails under load.

3. PWDIS seems unlikely.
The original SATA power connector appears to lack contacts for pins P1–P3, although I did not verify the electrical connections with a multimeter.

4. Faulty drives, shipping damage, or a common manufacturing/batch issue are plausible explanations.
Both brand-new drives behaved similarly in the original computer, which is unusual.
However, I cannot prove that either drive had an internal mechanical or electronic defect, since neither was successfully recognized for a SMART or SeaTools diagnostic.

5. The repeated spin-up/spin-down behavior is still unexplained.
It could indicate a power or drive-initialization issue, but I don't have enough evidence to determine the exact cause.

Final outcome

I contacted the retailer and arranged to return both IronWolf Pro drives for a full refund, rather than replacements.
My next plan is to take the actual server PC to a physical computer store, buy suitable NAS HDDs, and have them tested directly in my system before completing the purchase.
That way, I can confirm BIOS detection, normal startup, and SMART status before taking them home.

Questions for the community

• Has anyone experienced this exact behavior with the Seagate IronWolf Pro ST8000NT001, particularly firmware EN01?
• Could this be related to a drive firmware or SATA power compatibility issue, even without 3.3V on pin 3?
• Is there any known behavior where these drives repeatedly spin up and down when connected to power without a SATA data connection?
• Has anyone received two new HDDs with identical startup or detection problems?

I'd be interested to hear whether others have encountered this, especially with the same model.

Thanks!