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I have a new Seagate "backup plus fast 4tb".

The problem is : once in a while (like once an hour), I hear a little noise, and the disk stops working for some time (like 2 minutes) then starts to work again.

It's usb 3, and I have usb 2, but this should no be a problem.

Is this a problem with the disk? Or is it a problem with my usb ports?

There's no adapter. Only 2 usb plugged in laptop (one of them for power only).

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  • It is normal for the drive to go into sleep mode and spin down, the noise you hear is probably the heads parking themselves... But 2 minutes to spin back up seems excessive, 15-30 seconds should be max once you try to access it...
    – acejavelin
    Nov 28, 2015 at 18:46
  • It's a power saving feature that is implemented by Windows. If a USB interface has low activity, it can enterUSB Selective Suspend. This will essentially cause the external HDD to sleep, until it is requested to be used again. It will then start back up and do it's thing.
    – DrZoo
    Nov 28, 2015 at 19:05
  • It does not have low activity. This happens when disk is being used.
    – trogne
    Nov 28, 2015 at 19:08
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    So in the middle of a read/write operation of somekind, the drive is making a noise and becoming inaccessible for 2 minutes?!?! BACKUP IMMEDIATELY all data on the drive and until further testing can be done, do not trust the drive. I would test it for similar behavior on another PC or OS (like Linux) to see if it behaves the same. The issue you describe is not normal behavior well the drive is being accessed.
    – acejavelin
    Nov 28, 2015 at 19:23
  • I didn't mean the drive was bad... not yet... although I wouldn't trust it at this point. This could be something with your laptop or another issue although not likely. I would test it before returning it, but if it is new and there is nothing critical on the drive, I guess there is no harm in exchanging it for another one. The Seagate external HDD's are normally good consumer grade devices, I would not hesitate to get another one.
    – acejavelin
    Nov 28, 2015 at 19:30

1 Answer 1

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I've tested the drive on a less older computer, and it works perfectly.

So, I'm pretty sure that the problem is with the usb power. My old laptop doesn't give enough power to the disk.

I replaced the usb powered hard disk with a AC powered hard disk, and now I have no problems.

So, in my book, giving all the power that the disk needs by usb only, is not good, at least on old laptops ! Mine is 2009.

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