New Seagate Expansion (STEB300100 3TB) totally incompatible with Windows XP SP3

[tekwiz]

Seagate STEB3000100 3TB absolutely not being recognized in Windows XP SP3. I even tried to format it on another computer with various formats and sizes, but it's never seen in the disk manager. I tried various tools like Partition Wizard. (Funny thing is that it works fine in Ubuntu 12.04.)

It's seen in the device manager but appears as unknown and unreadable! Supposedly looking at the Seagate support pages, the maximum size would be like 2 TB as an MBR disk, but this doesn't seem to change anything, it's still not recognized! I even formatted as a small FAT drive, and still nothing! On this page it shows the drive showing in the disk management, but this never happens in this case.

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/006125en?language=en_US

Are there new drives that will not show at all under Windows XP no matter how they are partitioned/formatted?

This is the device manager information: http://i.imgur.com/KMt6eRl.png

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, tekwiz.

It's possible for newer drives not to be recognized by Windows XP, even if it's SP3. Is the OS 64bit or 32bit?

Basically even if you've reformatted it with the MBR partition table and used less than 2TB, it's still possible for the OS to need a driver for that HDD. Unfortunately since Windows XP's support has been discontinued by Microsoft, so did most of the manufacturer's. So my advice is to get in touch with the HDD manufacturer's customer support and ask if there's a driver or different software which you can install in order to make the drive useable with the Win XP computer.
Also, try updating your motherboard associated drivers like chipset, USB controller driver, etc.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

 

[tekwiz]

Thanks Boogieman_WD for your educated response. It's Windows XP 32 bit,. I tried on 4 physical machines and with a VMWare virtual machine. The driver is old, it's the standard disk driver in Windows XP (Microsoft 07/01/2001 version 5.1.2535.0) The funny thing is that Seagate has nothing about this on their site. They have that page I posted that talks about them switching to GPT formatting and PHOTOS of the drive that would work and those that won't work (without reformatting!) So I asked them on Facebook: This was Seagate's answer:

Hello Jerry,
Unfortunately, we do not support this Expansion drive on XP systems.They are supported for Windows 7 and above. If you are unable to see the drive, even after partitioning the drive to MBR on another computer, then unfortunately we would not have additional suggestions since this is an unsupported operating system. We apologize.

That's all they had to say! On the box it shows Windows 7, 8 and 10. Putting a label or notice "NOT COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS XP AND SOME OTHER DEVICES" would have saved a lot of people much frustration. It's possible that some revisions of the product did work with reformatting, but obviously the current revision doesn't work and Seagate tech support has no clue why because "well it's not supported." Welcome to the stupidity of the computer industry!!!

A person can easily be misled to buy this drive thinking it should work fine on XP since on Amazon, there were some answers that said yes, and some reviews like #6 which describe a waste of time trying to get it to work. Amazingly the Seagate page I mentioned seems to indicate it's just a matter of reformatting the drive to a lower capacity, or using one of Seagate's software products. Seagate doesn't even bother to go and state on Amazon that this drive won't work with XP. The don't care if people buy the product and waste time with it. Very disappointing, and I've been dealing with computers all my life... This is just totally not respectful to customers.

1. Question: does it work with windows xp
Answer: Yes. I still have XP on my desktop PC too. Hard drive driver loads and works fine.
By Gary on August 22, 2016

2. Question: Is the seagate steb3000100 compatible with windows xp
asked by Larry E. on July 26, 2015

Answer: Its pre formatted to windows formate. Yes.
Gadgetlover answered on July 26, 2015

Answer: yes
Cyber Trading SELLER answered on July 26, 2015

Answer: Yes, of course.
MussSyke answered on July 26, 2015

Comments:
Larry E. said on July 26, 2015
Thanks! I really appreciate all of your quick responses.
Larry E. Robertson

Jeremias Murillo said on June 27, 2016
My windows XP does not recognize it.

MussSyke said on June 28, 2016
Check to see if another Windows machine recognizes it. If it is not recognized at all, it may be defective. If it recognizes it but does not read it, you might try re-formatting it with disk manager.

MussSyke said on June 28, 2016
You may have to go to Disk Manager just to see if it is listed there to see if it is recognized.


4. Question: Does this product work with windows XP ??

Answer: yes
By Tri State Camera on September 1, 2016

Answer: Yes
Joe Martinez answered on August 31, 2016

5. Review: * Does not work with XP
By G. Ratcheson on June 20, 2016

6. Review ** Not Recognized By XP Computers
I've had good luck with Seagate in the past, but not this time. The disk works fine with my 4 Win-8 machines but isn't recognized by either of my Win-XP machines. In the Device Manager it appears in the USB Controllers list and the Disk Drives list, and they say everything is working properly. BUT, the drive doesn't appear in My Computer or in Disk Management in Manage My Computer.
Per the Seagate website troubleshooting instructions I deleted and reinstalled the driver and installed their Extended Capacity Manager program. It says everything works fine and the computer can see the full 5TB, but of course the computer still doesn't recognize the disk. Their web site troubleshooting instructions were a waste of time.
By Mom with 2 boys on May 13, 2016

7. Review *** Not compatible wiht windows XP!
This product is in fact not compatible with windows XP!
By Eddie Castillo on May 13, 2015

8. Review *** Won't work with Windows XP
Be aware that even though this is a fine hard disk drive, it is not as advertised. Both Amazon and Seagate say that it is compatible with Windows XP sp3. However, it is not recognized by Windows XP nor by some Samsung Televisions.
In the words of Seagate technical support:
This new model comes set up GPT instead of MBR. GPT formatted drives will encounter restrictions on Windows XP operating systems. To get this drive working on Windows XP systems you will need to DiskPart and erase the drive.
It turns out that this erasing and repartitioning cannot be done on a Windows XP system but must be done on a later version of Windows.
By Duane Bristow on April 19, 2015

9. Review * It does not work on Windows XP, Vista.
It does not work on Windows XP, Vista.
That is a lie.
Return my money, is not real product information. I am very angry, I feel cheated.
Someone has to explain .. Amazon or Seagate
By Yael E. on September 15, 2016

 

[buster123]

Damn, I also wasted an entire day after having bought this utterly useless Seagate 4TB latest 2017 USB 3.0 drive from Newegg for $110. I needed it to backup my Windows XP SP3 64 bit desktop. It shows clearly in "Device Manager" that this dumb disk is "Working properly" but never shows up in "Disk Manager". I also fell hook line and sinker for misleading and false advertising by Seagate at soo many places. A computers guy myself, if Ive been so thoroughly conned, I shudder thinking how many other more naive folk would have fallen for this electronic garbage Seagate is peddling with lying through their smelly teeth blatantly right on their website. All they need to do is write a NDIS/NT driver for this proprietary crapware they are throwing at people.

It was after a full day of searching hundreds of combos of search words on Google and Bing that I chanced upon this worthwhile post. Thanks to OP. Down with Seagate.

Thanks Boogieman_WD for your educated response. It's Windows XP 32 bit,. I tried on 4 physical machines and with a VMWare virtual machine. The driver is old, it's the standard disk driver in Windows XP (Microsoft 07/01/2001 version 5.1.2535.0) The funny thing is that Seagate has nothing about this on their site. They have that page I posted that talks about them switching to GPT formatting and PHOTOS of the drive that would work and those that won't work (without reformatting!) So I asked them on Facebook: This was Seagate's answer:

Hello Jerry,
Unfortunately, we do not support this Expansion drive on XP systems.They are supported for Windows 7 and above. If you are unable to see the drive, even after partitioning the drive to MBR on another computer, then unfortunately we would not have additional suggestions since this is an unsupported operating system. We apologize.

That's all they had to say! On the box it shows Windows 7, 8 and 10. Putting a label or notice "NOT COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS XP AND SOME OTHER DEVICES" would have saved a lot of people much frustration. It's possible that some revisions of the product did work with reformatting, but obviously the current revision doesn't work and Seagate tech support has no clue why because "well it's not supported." Welcome to the stupidity of the computer industry!!!

A person can easily be misled to buy this drive thinking it should work fine on XP since on Amazon, there were some answers that said yes, and some reviews like #6 which describe a waste of time trying to get it to work. Amazingly the Seagate page I mentioned seems to indicate it's just a matter of reformatting the drive to a lower capacity, or using one of Seagate's software products. Seagate doesn't even bother to go and state on Amazon that this drive won't work with XP. The don't care if people buy the product and waste time with it. Very disappointing, and I've been dealing with computers all my life... This is just totally not respectful to customers.

1. Question: does it work with windows xp
Answer: Yes. I still have XP on my desktop PC too. Hard drive driver loads and works fine.
By Gary on August 22, 2016

2. Question: Is the seagate steb3000100 compatible with windows xp
asked by Larry E. on July 26, 2015

Answer: Its pre formatted to windows formate. Yes.
Gadgetlover answered on July 26, 2015

Answer: yes
Cyber Trading SELLER answered on July 26, 2015

Answer: Yes, of course.
MussSyke answered on July 26, 2015

Comments:
Larry E. said on July 26, 2015
Thanks! I really appreciate all of your quick responses.
Larry E. Robertson

Jeremias Murillo said on June 27, 2016
My windows XP does not recognize it.

MussSyke said on June 28, 2016
Check to see if another Windows machine recognizes it. If it is not recognized at all, it may be defective. If it recognizes it but does not read it, you might try re-formatting it with disk manager.

MussSyke said on June 28, 2016
You may have to go to Disk Manager just to see if it is listed there to see if it is recognized.


4. Question: Does this product work with windows XP ??

Answer: yes
By Tri State Camera on September 1, 2016

Answer: Yes
Joe Martinez answered on August 31, 2016

5. Review: * Does not work with XP
By G. Ratcheson on June 20, 2016

6. Review ** Not Recognized By XP Computers
I've had good luck with Seagate in the past, but not this time. The disk works fine with my 4 Win-8 machines but isn't recognized by either of my Win-XP machines. In the Device Manager it appears in the USB Controllers list and the Disk Drives list, and they say everything is working properly. BUT, the drive doesn't appear in My Computer or in Disk Management in Manage My Computer.
Per the Seagate website troubleshooting instructions I deleted and reinstalled the driver and installed their Extended Capacity Manager program. It says everything works fine and the computer can see the full 5TB, but of course the computer still doesn't recognize the disk. Their web site troubleshooting instructions were a waste of time.
By Mom with 2 boys on May 13, 2016

7. Review *** Not compatible wiht windows XP!
This product is in fact not compatible with windows XP!
By Eddie Castillo on May 13, 2015

8. Review *** Won't work with Windows XP
Be aware that even though this is a fine hard disk drive, it is not as advertised. Both Amazon and Seagate say that it is compatible with Windows XP sp3. However, it is not recognized by Windows XP nor by some Samsung Televisions.
In the words of Seagate technical support:
This new model comes set up GPT instead of MBR. GPT formatted drives will encounter restrictions on Windows XP operating systems. To get this drive working on Windows XP systems you will need to DiskPart and erase the drive.
It turns out that this erasing and repartitioning cannot be done on a Windows XP system but must be done on a later version of Windows.
By Duane Bristow on April 19, 2015

9. Review * It does not work on Windows XP, Vista.
It does not work on Windows XP, Vista.
That is a lie.
Return my money, is not real product information. I am very angry, I feel cheated.
Someone has to explain .. Amazon or Seagate
By Yael E. on September 15, 2016

 

[tekwiz]

Damn, I also wasted an entire day after having bought this utterly useless Seagate 4TB latest 2017 USB 3.0 drive from Newegg for $110. I needed it to backup my Windows XP SP3 64 bit desktop. It shows clearly in "Device Manager" that this dumb disk is "Working properly" but never shows up in "Disk Manager". I also fell hook line and sinker for misleading and false advertising by Seagate at soo many places. A computers guy myself, if Ive been so thoroughly conned, I shudder thinking how many other more naive folk would have fallen for this electronic garbage Seagate is peddling with lying through their smelly teeth blatantly right on their website. All they need to do is write a NDIS/NT driver for this proprietary crapware they are throwing at people.

It was after a full day of searching hundreds of combos of search words on Google and Bing that I chanced upon this worthwhile post. Thanks to OP. Down with Seagate.

You're very welcome. I am glad I was able to provide a definite answer to this insane problem. Just because Microsoft doesn't support XP, doesn't mean everybody else has to jump ship and not even make it clear when products won't work with it anymore. This is how Apple operates, I guess it's all about Mac envy. Anyway I think one way to get around the problem is to run VM with a newer OS like Win7 on XP and access the drive that way.