Here’s How To Install ONLY What You Need
The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Review that I just did covered the unit itself but not the software that goes with it.
You probably want to install the Seagate GoFlex Dashboard software, but you will likely NOT want to install all of the other “stuff” that they offer you.
The GoFlex Dashboard is NOT necessary to use the drive, the pic in the upper left shows that Windows recognizes and lets you use the drive just fine without it.
Full functionality and some diagnostic capability, though, do require the dashboard.
I don’t appreciate all of the “framework” software that is necessary for such a simple functioning utility, but that’s the old school programmer in me talking and not the reality of today – unfortunately.
The dashboard actually will work with multiple GoFlex external drives, which is kind of nice. And the nifty utilization indicator lights on the drive apparently need the software – at least gives you the option to turn them off if you want.
The sleep option on the drive is controlled through the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex dashboard and since the drive has no on/off switch you may well want to take advantage of that. My advice is to NOT set it lower than 1 hour, though. Don’t need the drive going thru sleep/wake too quickly if you use it periodically throughout the day.
Seagate GoFlex Dashboard Video
Here is the GoFlex Dashboard software installation configuration video to help out if you need it:
USB 3.0 Hardware Adapter
In order to get the maximum speed out of your Seagate GoFlex USB 3.0 external hard drive you need USB 3.0 on your computer.
If you do not have that – few do currently – then you can buy an adapter. Just make sure of two things:
- You buy one with an interface that your PC will accept (PCIe, etc).
- Get one that not only has a high user rating, but check out how many 1 and 2 star ratings there are.
The reason I mention #2 is that I almost bought a Western Digital SuperSpeed USB 3.0 PCI Express (PCIe) Card but was put off by not only the fact that several people had a bad experience, but also that the company did not appear to stand behind the product if not bundled with a hard drive.
Bottom line is to make sure of the return policy and time frame and make sure it works out of the box. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it will work a month later!
The good news, I guess, is that they are not too terribly expensive if you do end up getting one that works erratically or not for long.
I have had some decent success with Star Tech cards before, and this StarTech.com 2 Port PCI Express SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Card Adapter PEXUSB3S2 does not have any 1 star reviews currently.
I use my drive only to backup my data using the copy function in Windows. As I do this at roughly 1-2 hour intervals, would it make sense for me to set the drive to sleep if not used for, say, 5 minutes?
Thanks,
CA
Personally, I would not want a drive going thru a sleep/wake cycle more than a couple of times per day. 1 – 2 hour intervals? I’d just let it run myself.
I recently bought the GoFlex but cannot find anywhere how to make one of the drivers(Go Home personal) password protected so anyone doesnt have access to it via tablet/iphone etc. Is this possible to do?
my freeagent goflex desk is not displayed in mycomputer though it is recognized as usb seagate storage.dashboard sw is also not able to detect.my os is win 7.pl advise