Very useful video. I wanted to put another drive in my enclosure and this video helped me open it without damaging it. Had my Freeagent drive 5+ years and no problems. Good job Seagate!
I know this is an older video, but you just helped me get into the HDD for my Mac that was destroyed. Was able to swap the HDD into this enclosure to access all the files! Lifesaver. Thanks!
Useful to see what these drives look like before I started to pull mine apart. Thanks. It's important to note that both the silver panels are not the same. The bottom of the drive is screwed to the white sides so if you try to pry that apart it will break. The panel with the swirl logo and throbbing white LED is the one to so (as the video shows). Hope this saves someone some broken bits.
Just opened mine thanks to this video. I used a small thin screw driver and it worked fine. You still have to disassemble the metal housing to get the actual drive out.
The internal HDD controller in the case just broke in mine, but HDD still works and will take it out. Thanks for the video help, as i needed to open the case without ruining it. The case controller lasted just over 3 years.
Thank you! Any idea if that HDD can be popped into another HDD enclosure? My PC isn't recognizing this drive any longer and I'm trying to rule out the enclosure/power supply. Thanks!
Just curious; are these Free Agent drives generally SATA drives? I have a good quality enclosure with cooling and a high speed connection port on my computer and would like to trade drives out but knowing if it is a SATA drive would help. I will also need to check the enclosure I have with a 300gb drive to make sure it is also a SATA drive? Making my good drive case a 1TB drive would be very usefull, and I could still use the smaller drive for some other work I am doing. Thanks for the gread video. I should actually buy some of those plastic tools as I do this stuff all the time. Thanks for the information.
life saver....hadn't turned my drive on in a year or so...found out ants were nesting inside...had to open it up and clear out the invaders with compressed air
HARDDRIVEMD, My Seagate FreeAgent Desk has an I/O problem which it sees the files but won't let me open the files up, Anything I can Do and try to transfers the files onto another harddrive?
My Seagate Freeagent is not powering up. Is there any way to remove the metal part (where you plug in the USB cable and adapter) and plug a SATA cable directly to the hard drive? It looks like it is not possible to remove the metal part around the hard drive.
got the hard drive out of the metal housing by removing the small black bumpers, unscrewing the small screws, then prying the rest apart and it comes right out.
thank you i have no idea what is wrong with mine there is nthin on thier website and honestly this is so helpful anything else you know please let us know! thank you soooo much
Thank you. This is a very good teaching video. I am going to open mine and find out the problem of it...it cannot be recognized by "4" different computers.
I have this model & it seems the internal usb port is damaged. Any economical solution? is there any enclosure that comes with internal circuit so i can change actual hard disk to new one? I m totally new to this. any solution will be helpful.
+uhstube74 there are hard drive bays that you could use. take the hard drive out of this one and stick it in there for fast swapping. mine is this exact model and the usb port is getting a bit loose so i plan on taking mine out and sticking it directly in my pc as i have like 5 extra spots for HDDS
+Shreddy's Nightmares Thanks for reply. So how does it connect to laptop directly? i mean my laptop has normal USB port.Once u remove the internal harddisk - how does it look like - i mean connection wise. If possible, can u share the photo?
+uhstube74 here is a bay im referring to. you can stick a 3.5 or 2.5 in it and run it straight through the usb like normal external hard drive would www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L3W0F40?keywords=hard%20drive%20bay&qid=1456350665&ref_=sr_1_5&sr=8-5
+Shreddy's Nightmares I have Seagate Free agent 1 TB external hard-disk. see image here where I marked usb port in Red which i suspect damaged. So I just need to remove the disk which i marked with blue rectangle.First time I have opened the harddisk .When disk comes out ,will it have only one connection wire? how does it look like?just to make sure when i remove i dont break anything. picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cMoEnS-RINQX3alpJvFAExrTRYYKIakvdhpJ9RtZ5Mk?feat=directlink
+urvish shelat first remove the rubber feet, that will reveal screws that are holding it together. once those are removed you need to lift up at the back end and gently pull out to remove the disc from the connector. after that its just a regular ol hard drive and can be used in a desktop just like youd buy seperatly or since you have a laptop like you said one of those bays i linked you to. prices on them are hit or miss so search for what suits you
Damn, I tried to use the enclosure with other 3.5" hard disks just to find out the intrincated design prevents me to use other hdd unless I tweak and peel some plastic from the other hard disks, so it's not eorth the effort, I just put it back together with the seagate hdd that came from. So I guess I really need to buy a 3 5" enclosure since my mini pc has no room for other sata device.
I used my hands and nails weapon x style hahaha. Time to see if it's the casing and it's ports that is damaged or the hdd itself. I had a full electrical discharge that fried my old computer, gpu and all the way to the TV screen that was plugged to it. Wish me luck that this piece that was also connected via usb is somehow still able to load if I plug it directly via Sata!
This is absolutely not true. Please don't state "facts" that you don't actually have a clue about. Western Digital makes a large number of 2.5" portable hard drives that are USB only. Meaning that if you managed to get them out of their case you will discover that the controller board attached to the drive has a direct USB connection and no SATA connections anywhere. The WD Elements SE is a good example of this: i.stack.imgur.com/d0cqS.jpg
Doesn't work on mine -- the rear slot separates fine, but as soon as you get to the corners it's locked down tight. If I stress it any more, it's going to snap.
Why this drive not working with android phone?i have Samsung Galaxy Note 9.i tried that drive with adapter and plug in to my phone but my phone dont detect that external hdd why?i have 2 tb same
This hard drive is a piece of shit. Mine works, some of the time, but it will randomly stop working. Sometimes I'll shut off my computer and it never turn off, or I can't read it randomly at different times. I usually unplug it for a bit and it comes back, and I've not lost data, but I'm confused why it will stop working sometimes.
I ended up taking the hard drive out of the external enclosure and putting it into my tower. Seems to have solved my issues. I didn't even know you could do that until I opened it and saw it had the same sata connections as an ordinary HD. Hasn't acted up since. But it sorta defeats the whole point of it being an external hard drive.
The title says he's showing how to disassemble the enclosure, not the whole unit. Why would you want to open it more, he showed you how to get to the drive just fine. The rest should be obvious, if not, you shouldn't be messing with taking it apart in the first place. RichE
Very useful video. I wanted to put another drive in my enclosure and this video helped me open it without damaging it.
Had my Freeagent drive 5+ years and no problems. Good job Seagate!
I know this is an older video, but you just helped me get into the HDD for my Mac that was destroyed. Was able to swap the HDD into this enclosure to access all the files! Lifesaver. Thanks!
Useful to see what these drives look like before I started to pull mine apart. Thanks. It's important to note that both the silver panels are not the same. The bottom of the drive is screwed to the white sides so if you try to pry that apart it will break. The panel with the swirl logo and throbbing white LED is the one to so (as the video shows). Hope this saves someone some broken bits.
Just opened mine thanks to this video. I used a small thin screw driver and it worked fine. You still have to disassemble the metal housing to get the actual drive out.
The internal HDD controller in the case just broke in mine, but HDD still works and will take it out. Thanks for the video help, as i needed to open the case without ruining it.
The case controller lasted just over 3 years.
Great tutorial....saved me from visiting the hardware technician...thanks much buddy!!
Awesome Vid. I always worry about opening items in case it breaks. Great to see this... Thank you.
Thank you! Any idea if that HDD can be popped into another HDD enclosure? My PC isn't recognizing this drive any longer and I'm trying to rule out the enclosure/power supply.
Thanks!
Appreciate the vid - was making sure I wasn't missing a hidden switch somewhere to pop off the lid. Thanks!
Thanks harddriveMD, this was very helpful.
I think I might have an issue with mine. Is there a way to save data on these drives?
Just curious; are these Free Agent drives generally SATA drives? I have a good quality enclosure with cooling and a high speed connection port on my computer and would like to trade drives out but knowing if it is a SATA drive would help. I will also need to check the enclosure I have with a 300gb drive to make sure it is also a SATA drive? Making my good drive case a 1TB drive would be very usefull, and I could still use the smaller drive for some other work I am doing. Thanks for the gread video. I should actually buy some of those plastic tools as I do this stuff all the time. Thanks for the information.
Great stuff... what size is the physical drive? Is it a 3.5"?
Thanks this a very helpful video
Thanks harddriveMD. One mistake that I made was prying the bottom section instead of the top.
I was hoping to find out whether it is SATA compatible ... :P
I can't run my harddisk of this seagate. Is it the problem from power supply?
Starts opening at 0:50
life saver....hadn't turned my drive on in a year or so...found out ants were nesting inside...had to open it up and clear out the invaders with compressed air
Can I simply replace with larger hard drive? Will it work?
How do you call this opening tool?
HARDDRIVEMD, My Seagate FreeAgent Desk has an I/O problem which it sees the files but won't let me open the files up, Anything I can Do and try to transfers the files onto another harddrive?
Hi, I have some problems with a HD SEAGATE Replica, Could you give me some tips how to open. Thank you !
can I swap a 4TB drive in this enclosure? Will it recognize it.
I doubt it. Typically enclosures like this run into the 2T limit, but give it a try and let us know.
RichE
Where would I find one of those plastic prying devices (one that is recommended)
Automotive store has them for prying out plastic interior pieces 👍
Thanks for posting this.
My Seagate Freeagent is not powering up. Is there any way to remove the metal part (where you plug in the USB cable and adapter) and plug a SATA cable directly to the hard drive? It looks like it is not possible to remove the metal part around the hard drive.
got the hard drive out of the metal housing by removing the small black bumpers, unscrewing the small screws, then prying the rest apart and it comes right out.
thank you i have no idea what is wrong with mine there is nthin on thier website and honestly this is so helpful anything else you know please let us know! thank you soooo much
Got news for ya buddy, the silver parts are plastic as well! Thanks for helping me out though. Now how do I fix an installation error with it?
By doing like this isit voids the warranty ?? i have till 2015 & how to backup my 1TB same Power problem helpme out plz............
Thank you so much. Very useful
Awesome thanks, got it open, not quite so carefully as the enclosure has stopped working, hoping I can salvage the drive out of it
Once you open it- how do you take the drive out? Looks like there are wires?
Gina Marie unscrew the enclosure and unplug the cables
If I want to put a bigger drive in my FreeAgent, does it have to be a Seagate? If so, is there a certain type of Seagate drive it needs? Thanks!
AncientFury Hmm, I actually bought a 4TB drive and it wouldn't recognize any more than 1.8TB of it. Weird..
AncientFury Ok awesome. I'll give that a shot. Thanks!
AncientFury I'm on Windows 7 64-bit. Thanks!
Thank you. This is a very good teaching video. I am going to open mine and find out the problem of it...it cannot be recognized by "4" different computers.
I have this model & it seems the internal usb port is damaged. Any economical solution? is there any enclosure that comes with internal circuit so i can change actual hard disk to new one? I m totally new to this. any solution will be helpful.
+uhstube74 there are hard drive bays that you could use. take the hard drive out of this one and stick it in there for fast swapping. mine is this exact model and the usb port is getting a bit loose so i plan on taking mine out and sticking it directly in my pc as i have like 5 extra spots for HDDS
+Shreddy's Nightmares
Thanks for reply. So how does it connect to laptop directly? i mean my laptop has normal USB port.Once u remove the internal harddisk - how does it look like - i mean connection wise. If possible, can u share the photo?
+uhstube74 here is a bay im referring to. you can stick a 3.5 or 2.5 in it and run it straight through the usb like normal external hard drive would www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L3W0F40?keywords=hard%20drive%20bay&qid=1456350665&ref_=sr_1_5&sr=8-5
+Shreddy's Nightmares
I have Seagate Free agent 1 TB external hard-disk. see image here where I marked usb port in Red which i suspect damaged. So I just need to remove the disk which i marked with blue rectangle.First time I have opened the harddisk .When disk comes out ,will it have only one connection wire? how does it look like?just to make sure when i remove i dont break anything.
picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cMoEnS-RINQX3alpJvFAExrTRYYKIakvdhpJ9RtZ5Mk?feat=directlink
+urvish shelat first remove the rubber feet, that will reveal screws that are holding it together. once those are removed you need to lift up at the back end and gently pull out to remove the disc from the connector. after that its just a regular ol hard drive and can be used in a desktop just like youd buy seperatly or since you have a laptop like you said one of those bays i linked you to. prices on them are hit or miss so search for what suits you
The port inside my hard drive to connect to the USB port has snapped of what should I do ?
Thanks for video...My FreeAgent would only flash the light and not read. The USB cord was bad!
Damn, I tried to use the enclosure with other 3.5" hard disks just to find out the intrincated design prevents me to use other hdd unless I tweak and peel some plastic from the other hard disks, so it's not eorth the effort, I just put it back together with the seagate hdd that came from. So I guess I really need to buy a 3 5" enclosure since my mini pc has no room for other sata device.
I used my hands and nails weapon x style hahaha. Time to see if it's the casing and it's ports that is damaged or the hdd itself. I had a full electrical discharge that fried my old computer, gpu and all the way to the TV screen that was plugged to it. Wish me luck that this piece that was also connected via usb is somehow still able to load if I plug it directly via Sata!
Thanks for the help
hi,ide or sata?
The one I just opened was SATA (Seagate Barracuda 500GB)
thank you, it works. big help
can you then make it into internal drive?
all external drives are internal drives with enclosures around them so yes you can.
This is absolutely not true. Please don't state "facts" that you don't actually have a clue about. Western Digital makes a large number of 2.5" portable hard drives that are USB only. Meaning that if you managed to get them out of their case you will discover that the controller board attached to the drive has a direct USB connection and no SATA connections anywhere. The WD Elements SE is a good example of this:
i.stack.imgur.com/d0cqS.jpg
Doesn't work on mine -- the rear slot separates fine, but as soon as you get to the corners it's locked down tight. If I stress it any more, it's going to snap.
Why this drive not working with android phone?i have Samsung Galaxy Note 9.i tried that drive with adapter and plug in to my phone but my phone dont detect that external hdd why?i have 2 tb same
Thanks for the how to
thank you!
Outstanding! Much obliged, sir! ;D
Thank you for talking the time
nICE
\
Very old video but thanks all the same!
Excellent tutorial.
I don't understand why Seagate made it so much difficult with all sorts of terrifying noises while opening.
They do not want you to open the case. And it'll void your warranty... :)
RichE
Thank you!
Thanks a lot.
Pretty helpfull!
Thanks!
Thank you
thxs for help
thank you :)
This hard drive is a piece of shit. Mine works, some of the time, but it will randomly stop working. Sometimes I'll shut off my computer and it never turn off, or I can't read it randomly at different times. I usually unplug it for a bit and it comes back, and I've not lost data, but I'm confused why it will stop working sometimes.
It's saving energy by gently urging you to chuck it in the garbage instead of leaving it on all the time.
I ended up taking the hard drive out of the external enclosure and putting it into my tower. Seems to have solved my issues. I didn't even know you could do that until I opened it and saw it had the same sata connections as an ordinary HD. Hasn't acted up since. But it sorta defeats the whole point of it being an external hard drive.
Elkdog the USB/SATA chips are not all created equal, and this one is a buggy piece of crap.
The title says he's showing how to disassemble the enclosure, not the whole unit. Why would you want to open it more, he showed you how to get to the drive just fine. The rest should be obvious, if not, you shouldn't be messing with taking it apart in the first place.
RichE
Thanks, I still wonder why they had to make it so damn hard to open it
Perfect, my 1.5G freeagent seems to have died. Want to get the drive out to check it further.
Thanks!
RichE
It's like opening an old Mac mini
the top and bottom are NOT metal, just silver plastik, only metal is the enklosure inside
I have one of those nieve plastic ones! It's a bitch because I think I'm gonna snap the enclosure!
Crowbar anyone?
Thanks for posting this.
Thank you!
Thank you