- #SEAGATE FREEAGENT GO FW USB CANT INITIALIZE DRIVE FULL#
- #SEAGATE FREEAGENT GO FW USB CANT INITIALIZE DRIVE SOFTWARE#
- #SEAGATE FREEAGENT GO FW USB CANT INITIALIZE DRIVE WINDOWS 7#
They return the drive thinking it is defective. Regualr (non-IT) People are buyuing new computers and buying an external USB drive to run backups.
#SEAGATE FREEAGENT GO FW USB CANT INITIALIZE DRIVE SOFTWARE#
I worked with Paragon Software and it cannot be done. Here is KB Article about Microsfts "position": This includes 500GB USB drives and they cannot be changed to 512K or 512e to work.
![seagate freeagent go fw usb cant initialize drive seagate freeagent go fw usb cant initialize drive](https://thydzik.com/images/seagate-freeagent-pro-disassemble-positioning-of-wire.jpg)
All new drives from most manufacturers are being shipped with 4K sectors. KB and Internet I have found that Microsoft has known this has been comming for almost 3 Years now. Bottom line is that System Image backups will not run and the backups fail(by the way a System Image is included by default in all Winodws 7 backups).
#SEAGATE FREEAGENT GO FW USB CANT INITIALIZE DRIVE WINDOWS 7#
This problem not only affects Server backup but Windows 7 Client backups as well. I would like to add to this thread after I have spent many many man hours researching this issue and working with Hard Drive vendors to find out what is going on. Truthfully there are really no excuses for this! The other alternative is Acronis backup software which unfortunatelyĬosts over $800 for server software. So as a result of this, I'm going to be stuck trying to find a new 3TB drive that supports emulation in order to back up my 3TB RAID5 array to replace my brand new 3TB drive that doesn't work. I can't reasonably imagine that it's technologically infeasible for the software to support 4k sector sizes so I can only surmise that Microsoft is intentionally turning a blind eye on this issue. Nor does there seem to be anyĬomprehensive hardware compatibility list.
#SEAGATE FREEAGENT GO FW USB CANT INITIALIZE DRIVE FULL#
So now customers are stuck with what is by now current-gen hardware that has no support from Microsoft, which I'm certain full well knows that sector sizes are effectively never made available by the hardware manufacturers. I don't even know if WD even make such a drive in 3TB sizes. I did contact WD and they seem completely uninterested in providing a list of 3TB drives that are either 512k sector sizes or support emulation. I'm also experiencing the same Windows Server Backup issue with a 3TB WD Elements external hard drive that reports the following despite instaling KB982018: Probably because of the EFI BIOS or the unrecognized OSX partition. BTW, I tried Acronis 2011 as well, including the extra cost "plus" add-on that supports GPT partitions and it still won't back up my system, So I guess we'll all be skating on thin ice until Microsoft fixes Windows backup. I'm using FW800 mostly because it's faster than USB and the stupid iMac doesn't have USB3 or E-SATA (other than the numpad-less wireless keyboard, it's a great Windows When used directlyīy Windows for file storage, the GoFlex 3TB drive works fine with either interface. It doesn't work at all going to the 3TB GoFlex - either using USB 2 or Firewire 800. The backup works fine going to a 2TB Western Digital Basics drive - although it takes 18 hours to image a disk containing 1.2TB of data. I have the 3TB GoFlex USB 3/2 drive and am trying to use it with Windows Backup to back up a Windows 7 Ultimate system running on an iMac (that means GPT partitioned disks and EFI boot, not BIOS). This should cover all WD drives 2.5TB and larger to correct this issue. This is how the drive appeared after the "Factory Default" format:įinally, I should point out that this utility will probably not work for drives from manufacturers other than Western Digital as it scans for WD drives specifically on launch and is likely working directly with their drives' firmware. This is how the drive appeared out of the box:Ĭ:\Windows\system32>fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo H: In my case, this is an acceptable compromise. After performing the format, the drive works fine with Windowsīackup in both Windows 7 and Windows Server, but is incompatible with Windows XP. WD support actually came through for me on this issue and pointed me to the following solution:īasically it consists of formatting the drive with their external drive formatting utility in "Factory Default" mode rather than XP-Compatible mode which (ironically) is how the drive ships. Out of the box this drive did not work with Windows backup at all.
![seagate freeagent go fw usb cant initialize drive seagate freeagent go fw usb cant initialize drive](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Bu931XSX7WI/maxresdefault.jpg)
I would also like to add a solution that I found that has worked for my 3TB WD Elements drive.