Free Agent 500g - XP Home Asking for Software

[Guest]

When trying to connect my Segate Free Agent, XP is asking for software to be
loaded through the automatic wizard, as there is no software, the device
manager is not assigning a drive, just a questionable device.

Service pack 2 was installed in Jan 2006 and the drive is seen using an
older version of Win 2000. Seagate tech support blames Microsoft for this
problem. Do I need a BIOS update or is there a patch for service pack 2 that
will create the device as a plug and play and bypass the wizard?

 

[Chuck]

It just might be Microsoft. Did you try to download updated drivers
for the device? If not, then give that a try. The problem is it's
not finding the drivers for that hardware.

Charles
http://www.ebusinesswiz.com/

 

[Rock]

When trying to connect my Segate Free Agent, XP is asking for software to
be
loaded through the automatic wizard, as there is no software, the device
manager is not assigning a drive, just a questionable device.

Service pack 2 was installed in Jan 2006 and the drive is seen using an
older version of Win 2000. Seagate tech support blames Microsoft for this
problem. Do I need a BIOS update or is there a patch for service pack 2
that
will create the device as a plug and play and bypass the wizard?

You've left out some details that folks have to guess at. The Seagate Free
Agent is a disk drive? Is this an external drive? If so how is it
connected - USB, Firewire, eSata? What software is it asking for? Do you
mean a driver? What is the message? When does it appear?

What does "device manager is not assigning a drive" mean? Device manager
recognized devices. Do you mean there is a yellow question mark next to it
in device manager? Under what category does it show? What is the error
when you open the device properties?

Has this drive ever been detected on this computer?

Without knowing more and guessing it's a USB connected drive see these
links. Start with the first one.

Troubleshooting for USB Drives
http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtrouble_e.html

General USB troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310575

 

[Guest]

I've been dealing with SeaGate Tech service over the last 2 weeks with no
results.
The bottom line is missing or misplaced XP drivers to allow USB mass storage
devices to run under plug and play. The drive connects to my computer at work
with no problems, so the drive is in working order. When connected to the
home XP computer this USB 2.0 external hard disk drive is recognized as new
hardware, but the New Hardware Wizard activates and requests software drivers
to complete the installation. Seagate's Free Agent does not come with drivers
and is designed to plug and play much like a flash drive. How do I update or
acquire the XP drivers to allow for this device to plug and play? FYI all my
USB thumb drives and flash cards work fine on this Xp computer and I have
followed all the lincs you have listed.

 

[Rock]

I've been dealing with SeaGate Tech service over the last 2 weeks with no
results.
The bottom line is missing or misplaced XP drivers to allow USB mass
storage
devices to run under plug and play. The drive connects to my computer at
work
with no problems, so the drive is in working order. When connected to the
home XP computer this USB 2.0 external hard disk drive is recognized as
new
hardware, but the New Hardware Wizard activates and requests software
drivers
to complete the installation. Seagate's Free Agent does not come with
drivers
and is designed to plug and play much like a flash drive. How do I update
or
acquire the XP drivers to allow for this device to plug and play? FYI all
my
USB thumb drives and flash cards work fine on this Xp computer and I have
followed all the lincs you have listed.

Sorry Richard, I don't know why your system detects drivers for other USB
devices but not for that drive. Did Seagate say what driver it needed?

You could try going to Start | Run | sfc /scannow | ok. Have your XP SP2 CD
handy if it's asked for.
http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

Have you tried installing it from Safe Mode?

If the system throws an error saying the device can't be installed in Safe
Mode, do a clean boot into normal mode and try from there. You want to
disable all non essential services and software. See this link

How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353

Did you uninstall all the USB controllers from device manager, reboot and
let the system redetect everything?

Have you looked in the logs in Event Viewer for events at the time you
connect the drive to see what errors are shown? Maybe a driver is mentioned.

Further down the list is a repair install.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

[Guest]

I am having the exact same problem. My son installed it on another computer
with Windows XP Home Edition and it worked fine. But when I hooked it up to
my Media Center Edition, it says the USB device is not recognized by Windows.