Backup Plus and Seagate Slim

[Jamesb1818]

Hello All,

Specs:

I have just purchased a new Seagate BackUp Plus 1TB, USB 3.0, External Hard Drive - as an upgrade from my still functioning 300GB external that just filled up over time. ( I am posting this question here as it looks like this sub-forum sees a lot more activity/responses than the newly created dedicated BackUp Plus forum)

Background:

I am comfortable around a PC, consider myself an obsessive 'fiddler' and have largely stayed away from included bloatware / software like the Seagate Dashboard for my externals in the past - primarily because of ease of access / and not wanting to be tied to proprietary software to access my data etc. I understand that the new SeaGate Dashboard does not use proprietary encryption for backup, and that files are stored in directory root structure format for easy retrieval but as a personal preference I do not want to access third party software (ideally), do not like system resources tied up by backup software if I can help it,  and prefer to 'drag and drop' data/files to an external every couple of months or so whenever i feel the need to. So to be clear, I understand that this way of using the drive is not creating a true 'Backup' in the traditional sense and can be considered 'copying' or 'moving' files from one place to another - and that is my primary intent.

I would like to use this new Seagate BackUp Plus drive as an additional capacity drive - to expand my HD's capacity with additional space to use as I see fit. I will usually make 'copies' of critical douments / powerpoints / pictures / videos / music and store them on the external for safekeeping and to use when i travel.

So, my Question(s):

1. How do I use the Segate BackUp Plus External Drive without installing the software? Do i just plug in the USB connector, wait for the device driver updates / installs / drive recognition, gain access to the drive from 'My computer', ignore the

miscellaneous Seagate Dashboard folders and installer icons, and then proceed as normal to create personal folders and 'drag and drop' from my C:// ? Am i missing anything? Do you recommend partitioning the drive to avoid deletion of any system critical stuff by accident?

2. Will the above approach create any  issues further down the line - like automatic powerdowns of the drive (if power options are not customized thru the software?), drive accessibility etc?

3. Does the above approach leave me with a lot of unutilized space (approx how much on a 1TB drive is wasted with unused software / instructional videos etc?

4. Is the better approach to just reformat the entire drive in NTFS (will this effectively wipe the entire drive? and give me access to the entire 1TB?)

5. any other approaches / suggestions?

Thanks very much in advance for any assistance! I have tried searching the forums, googling/binging for the same, but there seems to be very little clear, actionable information that i can find on these forums or elsewhere.

[Jamesb1818]

Follow Up:

Came across this older knowledge base article for how to use Seagate / Maxtor drives without software - will this work for my Seagate BackUp Plus?

Link: http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/206419en/?language=en_US&fs=Search&pn=1

thanks!

[kenji57]

If you have no need for the bundled software then you can certainly just use the drive as a standalone external USB drive, that is what I do. (I haven't checked the link you attached so maybe that says the same thing)

Just plug it in, cancel the autoplay request that tries to install the software and use it.

I just quick format my drives, but if you think there's a chance you may change your mind about the bundled software then move all the files and directories from the drive root  to somewhere else. If you leave it in the root then every time you plug in the drive it will fire up the autoplay and try to install.

You could probably just delete the autoplay.inf file but it's probably better to copy everything as-is from the root folder to elsewhere make it easy to restore the drive to original if you want to.

[Jamesb1818]

Hi Kenji,

Thanks very much for the speedy and informative response. Much obliged!

Also, great tip on moving the software setup files into another folder to avoid the auto-setup prompts each time. Will post an update if I run into any other issues associated with setup. Thanks again.

PS: Useful Seagate Knowledge Database article on moving standard factory installed software files into another folder for any one else OCD inclined or who might come across this post and find instructions useful

Link: http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/203491en/?q=backup+plus+software&language=en_US&fs=S...

[toomuchstuff]

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PS: Useful Seagate Knowledge Database article on moving standard factory installed software files into another folder for any one else OCD inclined or who might come across this post and find instructions useful

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James & Kenji - I am SO glad you posted this and that I stumbled on it doing a search for just this question!!  I JUST got a Seagate BU Plus 2TB.  I knew I did not need/want all the bells and whistles, just the space (had coupons, rewards, sale price at staples so paid less than $50!!) and was concerned about all the extras and what I might be "forced" to use.  I tried a few drag& drops, then access and delete...in other words, use it as extra space just as you two, and it seemed fine, but wanted to see if anyone else was susing it that way.  I think most people want all the fancy stuff.  I don't do "the cloud", I am not even on facebook so all the sharing...blah, blah is completely unimportant to me.  I just want to get stuff of my HD (I am a photographer) and not trus it all to DVDs.

James, when I read your first post it was so precise (did someone mention OCD?? ) I could not have written it better myself!  So if you are still reading this -  thank you!  - good to know that there are still some basic geeks out here. 

elle

[AlanM]

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toomuchstuff wrote:

 I JUST got a Seagate BU Plus 2TB... paid less than $50!!)

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Nicely done! 

Thanks to everyone who posted here. I can't add anything better than what kenji57_? said. You all are correct. Let me know if I can help with anything.

[Lily21]

Hi Kenji, if you're still monitoring, this thread covers the exact question of have re: the Backup Plus. Your answer is appreciated. I wondered if you might elaborate on "I just quick format my drives," for someone not as familiar with computers as James. Thanks!

[Macca8888]

Hi, 

I have the same question as Lily21. What is the best option to format my Backup Plus just to use with Mac only as getting confused with Mac Journaled, Fat 32, Ex Fat etc. I just want to store my images on the drive just by dragging and dropping when I need to, my files are at most 20mb large with the largest folders containing images around 8gb.

Please help

thanks 

Darren

[AskTheLeaf]

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Macca8888 wrote:

Hi, 

I have the same question as Lily21. What is the best option to format my Backup Plus just to use with Mac only as getting confused with Mac Journaled, Fat 32, Ex Fat etc. I just want to store my images on the drive just by dragging and dropping when I need to, my files are at most 20mb large with the largest folders containing images around 8gb.

Please help

thanks 

Darren

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Hello Darren, 

You can follow the instructions in this knowledge base article for formatting your drive through Mac OS:

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/207851en