GoFlex, GoFlex Desk, GoFlex Pro, GoFlex Slim, & GoFlex Turbo

[PaulineWoo]

I've not been able to run a backup to my 3TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk ever since I bought it a few weeks ago. Just get the error message: backup unsuccessful - error number 0x8078002A. My operating system is Windows 7, 64 bit. 

Have also tried it without system image, as suggested by online forums, but still no joy. 

Read something about a problem with Windows Service pack 1 and 64 bit OS, but don't know what it is.  Not at all satisfactory, after paying over £100 for the backup drive. 

[AlanM]

What backup software are you using?

Could you please try moving data onto the drive manually? 

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=206419&NewLang=en

Could you please try chkdsk?

[Gray]

Try running a check disk on your local hard drive. I had this issue and had windows check my hard drive for errors. It found a bad index pointers and corrected them. Windows backup worked after that.

[tcsmith314]

I'm having the same problem. It's very frustrating. I've tried both Acronnis, and Windows Backup. The only Software that worked with it was the software that came with the drive, but since it doesn created recoverable backups... I need something better.

I tried a check disk, and it found no errors.

[geezer701]

I have the same issue with the 0x8078002a error.

Moving the files manually may seem like an easy fix, but when I purchased the Seagate Free agent GoFlex Desk external hard drive, I was expecting the information on the box to be accurate; "automatically and continuously back up your content..."  I used the Windows back-up software to select the files that it felt was best because I didn't only want to back up data files that I created, but also wanted the appropriate system files from Windows.  Doing it manually was not something I felt competent in doing, because I don't know which specific files those are.   The Seagate Box also has an icon that says its "compatible with Windows 7."  That’s supposed to mean that it WORKS With WINDOWS 7.  To say that the conflict between Windows 7 and Seagate is not a Seagate problem is completely irresponsible.  That is like advertising that Aspirin cures cancer, and that later when it is demonstrated that Aspirin doesn't cure cancer, that it is the fault of Cancer that Aspirin doesn't work.  Windows makes no claim that it is compatible with Seagate products; it is Seagate that makes the (FALSE) claim that it is compatible with Windows 7.  A robust product would have appropriate troubleshooting infrastructure to deal with issues that would have been discovered during product testing prior to the claim that Seagate is compatible with Windows 7.  My recently purchased Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk is going back to the computer store this afternoon to be exchanged for a product that will work the way it is advertised

[popsnicker]

Is Seagate going to release a fix for their drives like Western Digital has or do I need to return my Seagate drive for a 3TB drive that is compatible like a Western Digital?

[bengel72]

I have discovered that if you remove the USB adapter and plug the hard drive directly into SATA, repartition and format, it works with windows backup. This seems to confirm what I have read elsewhere, that the drive is normally formatted with 512 byte clusters and the USB adapter emulates 4k clusters. I guess this gives better compatibility with windows xp. When the drive is reattached with the USB adpter, it fails to recognize the partition, if one was made directly thru SATA.

Please, Seagate, make a method for fixing this. From what I have seen, Western Digital has. It does not seem like too much to ask for windows backup compatibility

[Disapointed2012]

I have just purchased a 3GB Backup Plus Desktop Drive I'm getting error 0x8078002A when I try to use the Windows 7 Backup and Restore utility.  Is there a fix now?

Thanks, Rob.

[AskTheLeaf]

The error message you're encountering is a Windows one. Please take a look at this Microsoft knowledge base article:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/system-image-backup-failure-0...

[kenji57_?]

"The error message you're encountering is a Windows one."  

Well microsoft might argue that the issue is that drive manufacturers create drives with 4k logical sectors which seems to be the problem.

btw the link isn't to a microsoft knowledgebase article it is a community forum like this one, with lots of opinions and not all of them helpful.

Trawling through that forum, it seems like WD have stopped arguing about whose fault it is and have come up with a utility to resolve the problem.  http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6618

So Seagate doesn't have something similar, or any useful advice on how to reformat these drives with 512byte blocks?

ps. I notice this issue was first raised in July2011.