For other basic information on using your external drive, including how to use an external drive without installing or using any software at all, see the external drive How-To page.

Please see here our extensive tutorial pages to help you use the software that was bundled with your Seagate or Maxtor-brand external drive.

Some initial information:

When you connect your hard drive to your Windows computer and turn it on, you do not need to install any software or drivers to make the drive available for use.

1. The drive will appear as a drive letter in Computer (ie: Drive E:, F:, or some other letter) within approximately 30 seconds of connecting and turning on the drive.

2. Often the AutoPlay window will appear within 30 seconds.

3. You can click on "Open Folder to View Files Using Windows Explorer" to open the drive letter, or on the drive letter in (My) Computer. When that window opens, the drive is functioning normally.

4. Then you can simply drag-and-drop data, or copy-and-paste data, into the drive to use it manually.

5. Additionally, you can launch/install the Seagate/Maxtor software to take advantage of the software's features. Normally, once you connect the drive the first time, the software installation process will begin automatically.

6. Here is how to launch the installation of the software if it does not begin automatically.