| Q: |
I just
purchased the drive, what
should I do first? |
| A: |
Inside
the package you will find your
hard drive, USB Y cable, and
quick install guide. This drive
does not include a power cord,
CD, or any additional
accessories. The Y USB cable is
included because many systems
cannot provide enough power
through a single USB port. This
is particularly common with
drives 120GB and larger. For
best results we recommend
connecting to two USB ports for
the first use. If the drive is
detected you can experiment
with using a single port.If you
have a desktop, you should plug
the USB cable directly into the
USB ports on the back of the
computer. If this is a laptop,
you should plug directly into a
USB ports on the computer. Do
not plug into a USB hub or
docking station. You may
receive messages from the
system that new hardware was
found. On Windows you may also
get the Autorun menu. This menu
contains suggestions of what
you can do with the drive. For
the first use it is best to
click Cancel.Shortly after
connecting the drive you should
get a new icon on your desktop
(Mac) or another hard drive
will appear in My Computer
(Win).The drive is shipped
preformatted in FAT32 to allow
easy access from either a Mac
or a PC. |
| Q: |
I have
the drive plugged in but I
cannot find the drive in "My
Computer", why? |
| A: |
Most
systems show the drive on
screen in a few seconds, but on
some systems, the drive can
take a minute or 2 to appear
(maybe due to older hardware or
driver conflicts with other
devices). If it does not appear
in this time, unplug and replug
the USB connectors, and try
alternative USB ports on the
system.
If it still fails, he most
likely cause would be not
enough power provided by a
single USB port on your
computer. Unplug the portable
drive from the cable and unplug
the cable from the computer.
Now, plug the cable into 2 USB
ports directly on your
computer. (If you have a
desktop, you should plug the
USB cable directly into the USB
ports on the back of the
computer. If this is a laptop,
you should plug directly into a
USB ports on the computer. Do
not plug into a USB hub or
docking station). Then plug the
drive into the cable. Also
ensure you are using the
shortest USB cabling possible.
Although USB allows up to 5m,
long USB extension cables,
especially lower quality cables
may cause a power defficiency
and prevent normal drive
operation.
In a few seconds you should see
the drive listed in My
Computer. |
| Q: |
If I
wanted to use the portable
drive on a MAC "and" a PC, what
is needed? |
| A: |
The
external drives are sold
preformatted in FAT32. This
means that the drives will work
on the Mac or the PC straight
out of the box. |
| Q: |
The
drive says it was installed,
but it doesn’t show in My
Computer/Desktop. |
| A: |
On Mac,
check if the drive shows in
Disk Utility. To get to Disk
Utility, open Mac HD,
Applications, Utilities and
then Disk Utility. Drives are
listed on the left.In Windows,
check if the drive shows in
Disk Management. To get to Disk
Management, right click My
Computer and choose Manage.
Disk Management is on the left
under Storage. On the bottom
half of the screen you will see
listings like Disk 0. The
external drive would show as a
disk other than 0. Generally
Disk 1 or 2, but that can
change depending on what else
is installed on your system.If
the drive is listed and has a
drive letter assigned, minimize
this window and check in My
Computer for that letter. If it
is there, that is the external
drive. If the letter is no
there or is assigned to another
drive, like a network drive,
you will need to manually set
the letter. Bring Disk
Management back up and right
click on the capacity of the
drive. Choose Change Drive
Letter and Path. Choose Change
and select an available letter
from the drop box. Once
assigned the drive should be in
My Computer with the letter you
have selected.If the drive is
listed as Unknown or
Unallocated then the drive is
not properly formatted for use
with this computer. If the
drive was used with a Mac or
another non-windows device it
may be using an incompatible
format. This can be changed,
but the process will erase all
data on the drive. If the drive
shows Unknown, right click on
the word Unknown and choose
Initialize. Click through
accepting the defaults. The
drive should now be labeled
Unallocated.If the drive shows
as Unallocated, right click on
the work Unallocated and choose
New Partition (2000/XP) or New
Simple Volume (Vista). Keep
clicking next, accepting the
default settings, until you get
to finish. Clicking finish will
begin the format process. The
format will generally take
10-15min, depending on drive
size. When the format is
complete the drive will be
under My Computer labeled New
Volume. You can right click on
the drive and choose rename if
you would like a different
label. |
| Q: |
Why
can’t I eject/safely remove the
drive? Device can’t be stopped.
|
| A: |
If
everything is closed this means
there is something running in
the background that is still
interacting with the
drive.Firstly ensure that all
folder or explorer views of the
device have been closed.It
could be Antivirus, Backup
software, or another utility
that monitors your system. This
is not caused by the drive
itself. If you cannot determine
what is running, it is safest
to shutdown the computer before
turning off or disconnecting
the drive. |
| Q: |
Why
does my drive show less
gigabytes (GB) in my system
than was shown on the package?
|
| A: |
The
available capacity of your
SimpleTech storage product will
be reported by your operating
system as less than what is
listed on the product. The
storage industry, including
hard disk drive and flash
memory card manufacturers,
generally define 1 MB as 1
million bytes, while Operating
Systems commonly use the binary
numbering system to define 1
Megabyte (MB) as 1,048,576
bytes or 1,024 kilobytes (KB).
For example: a storage product
labeled as providing 100GB of
capacity actually has
100,000,000,000 bytes of
storage, but an operating
system, using the binary
numbering system, may display
the capacity as 93.13GB.
|
| Q: |
MWhy
do I get "Access Denied" when
trying to use the drive in
Vista? |
| A: |
If you
are getting an Access Denied
error in Vista you may need to
make a change in your user
account settings. Please follow
the directions below to turn
off User Account Control. 1.
Click Start and select Control
Panel2. Under the listing for
User Accounts and Family Safety
click Add/Remove User
Account.3. At the bottom of
this screen click Go to Main
User Accounts Page4. Click Turn
User Account Control On/Off5.
Uncheck the box for Use User
Account Control and click OK6.
Reboot the system if
prompted. |
| Q: |
Why
does the included USB cable
have two A connectors?
|
| A: |
Some
computers cannot provide enough
power through a single USB port
to run the external drive.
Connecting to two USB ports on
the system allows it to draw
additional power and will allow
the drive to run on most
computers. |
| Q: |
My
drive has failed, how do I
claim warranty. |
| A: |
If you
are a reseller then the drive
will need to be returned to
your Distributor.If you are an
EndUser then you should contact
the Technical Support Center
for help with raising an RMA.EMEA
Technical Support Center
|
| Q: |
Where
can I purchase the Signature
Mini drive? |
| A: |
The
Signature Mini drive can be
purchased from the following
places :
UK Customers
Amazon.co.uk
Argos
Comet
Dabs
Ebuyer
Novatech
Play.com
German Customers
Conrad
Alternate / Wave
Amazon.de
Atelco
|
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is provided by Hitachi Global Storage
Technologies on an "AS IS" basis only.
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|
