Seagate products are run by firmware. Having the latest firmware can improve performance and or reliability of your product. Seagate recommends applying new firmware to enhance the performance and or reliability of your drive.
Like any software, firmware is improved over time and problems are also fixed. Many drive families have a couple of firmware releases during the life of the product. Please check the Download Finder regularly to determine if new firmware is available for your drive. As new firmware becomes available for other products we will make note of it there.
Until recently, firmware updates for typical desktop and laptop computers were difficult and somewhat risky. This situation, in part, was based on a lack of friendly firmware download tools and operating system limitations. This situation has improved and Seagate now offers firmware updates as a routine matter for the general support of your Seagate drive.
If you are troubleshooting a system or operating system problem, you should not consider firmware updates until after exploring more typical troubleshooting steps like file system error checking and anti-virus scanning. Please use the following links and instructions below to determine if firmware is available for your product. If firmware is available, we recommend that you make a back up before running the actual update and that you read and follow all instructions, cautions and warnings that may be displayed.
If the firmware upgrade installation instructions are not followed properly, the firmware upgrade could be data destructive and/or render your hard drive inoperable. As Seagate does not warrant the data on your drive, in addition to regular back-ups, your data should be backed up, if possible, before upgrading the drive firmware.
Follow these steps to determine if a firmware update is available for your drive:
