Resolved! How to Safely Reset a Seagate External Hard Drive to Factory Settings

Why would I need to reset my Seagate external hard drive to factory settings?

Seagate external hard drives are popular among computer users for backing up and storing important data. However, external drives are as vulnerable to viruses as internal ones. For instance, certain types of malware are designed to infect and spread via USB storage devices. In such cases, formatting or wiping the external drive might be your best option.

Also, after extended use, a Seagate external hard drive may slow down. You might need to reset the external hard drive to restore its performance. If you're not satisfied with the performance of your Seagate portable hard drive, you can delete all existing data without any hesitation. Then, you can easily recover the data with hard drive recovery software. Besides, if you want to sell or donate your Seagate HDD but don't want the next user to access any data on the device, you should wipe out all data on the hard drive.

Preparations for Resetting Seagate External Hard Drive to Factory Settings

Erasing data from a Seagate external hard drive is a good way to clear it out and restore its performance. Formatting the drive can also switch it over to a different type of file system. However, erasing or formatting the hard drive will delete all the data on it. As such, you should back up your external hard drive before formatting it, as the data will be very difficult to recover. You can use third-party external hard drive backup software, like Todo Backup, to back up your external hard drive.

Todo Backup Home is a comprehensive backup solution designed for Windows 11/10/8/7 users. It helps you back up files, system, partitions, and hard drives. It offers advanced backup options including full backup, incremental backup, differential backup, and the feature of scheduled backup. Moreover, it can clone hard drives, migrate HDD to SSD, and even automatically back up USB drives when plugged in.

Here are the detailed steps to back up Seagate external hard drive with this external drive backup software.

First, choose what to back up.

Step 2: There are four backup types available: File, Disk, OS, and Mail. Click on “Disk”.

Step 3: It supports backing up the entire disk or a specific partition. Select what you need and then click “OK”.

4. Choose where you want to save your backup.

5. For disk/partition backup, you can choose to save the backup to a local drive or a NAS.

6. When the backup is done, you will see the task list on the left. Right-click on a task to perform more operations, like restoring the backup, creating an incremental backup, and more.

Reset a Seagate External Hard Drive Using Built-in Windows Tools

Since you have already backed up the data on your Seagate portable hard drive, you can format it with peace of mind. Formatting is simple on a Windows computer because the operating system provides built-in options for resetting external hard drives. Here's how to format a Seagate portable hard drive using either "Disk Management" or "Partition Wizard."

Reset Seagate External Drive via Disk Management

In Windows, the first method to reset a Seagate external hard drive is through Disk Management. This is usually the approach you'll need to take. Here's how:

Step 1. Connect the Seagate external hard drive to your computer.

Step 2: Open Disk Management.

Step 3: Right-click the partition and select "Format."

4. In the Format Wizard, choose a file system, and then set the Allocation Unit Size to its default. Click OK.

Reset Seagate External Drive via DiskPart

Another way to reset a Seagate external hard drive on Windows is by using DiskPart. DiskPart is a command-line utility that can be used to manage disk partitions in all versions of Windows. You can factory-reset your Seagate external hard drive by following these steps.

Step 1: Search for “Command Prompt,” and run it as an administrator.

2. Type `diskpart` in the Command Prompt, then press Enter.

Step 3: Type list disk, and press Enter.

4. Type `select disk x` and press Enter (replace x with the disk's number).

Step 5: Type erase disk, then erase the Seagate external hard drive.

Reset a Seagate External Drive with DiscWizard

These two methods should be enough for most cases. If you want more options, you can use a tool called Seagate DiscWizard. This software, developed by Acronis, is designed for Seagate and Maxtor hard drives, and allows users to create or format partitions on the drive, as well as transfer data and back it up. Here's how:

1. Go to the Seagate website to download and install DiscWizard.

Step 2: Insert a blank CD into your CD drive.

Step 3: Select “Burn the full version of DiscWizard to CD.” Click Next.

4. Select your CD burner from the drop-down menu, then click “Next.” Click “Continue” after verifying that everything is correct.

5. Connect the Seagate portable hard drive to your computer and click “OK” to restart your computer and boot from the CD/DVD.

Step 6: In the left pane, select “Erase Disk,” then click “Next.” Select your external drive, then click “Next.”

7. Click "Delete the partition on the target disk" and then click "Next". Choose "Quick" and click "Next".

Step 8: Click “Continue” to reset the Seagate external hard drive.

Abstract

To `reset Seagate external hard drive to factory settings`, you can use any of the above methods. In short, you can reset a Seagate external hard drive using Disk Management, DiskPart, and Seagate DiscWizard. However, it's better to back up Seagate external hard drive before deleting all data. `Eassos Backup` will be your ideal choice, which is a versatile backup software for both home and business users.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How do I fix a Seagate hard drive that is not working?

On the desktop, open “This PC,” then select your external hard drive. Right-click on it, and select “Properties” > “Tools” > “Check.” Once the scan begins, it will help fix errors on your external hard drive.

2. Do I need to format a new external hard drive?

If you want to format the external hard drive, a quick format will change the file system, but a full format may also check for bad sectors on the hard drive. Therefore, if you don't want to change the file system, formatting might not be necessary.

3. Can a Western Digital external hard drive be repaired?

If you have a Seagate external hard drive, you should know that Seagate provides a tool called SeaTools that can help you diagnose and fix issues with your hard drive, including bad sectors.

4. Why can't my Mac recognize Seagate hard drive?

If you can't use your Seagate drive on a Mac, it's because the drive uses Microsoft's NTFS file format. macOS can only read from these types of drives and not write to them.