# difficulty with new transferable Hard drive



## Tony Parkes (Sep 11, 2008)

Just bought a Seagate FreeAgent Go 25'GB hard drive to back up the computer, which is fairly old now. The problem is - my laptop only has 1 USB port and the hard drive requires two USB ports.

Am I able to connect the Power and Data cable to my computer and back up while connecting the Power only cable to another computer at the same time?


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## JohnnyV (Sep 11, 2008)

The external hd only requires one usb connection to the computer. The additional usb port you see on the external hd is to connect another usb device, such as a printer or another hd.


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## Replytoken (Sep 11, 2008)

JohnnyV said:


> The external hd only requires one usb connection to the computer. The additional usb port you see on the external hd is to connect another usb device, such as a printer or another hd.


 
I beleive that you might be misunderstanding the question in the OP.  Many portable drives come with a "Y" cable for additional power if the computer's USB port cannot put out enough power for the drive.

--Ken


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## Replytoken (Sep 11, 2008)

Tony Parkes;222'7 said:
			
		

> Just bought a Seagate FreeAgent Go 25'GB hard drive to back up the computer, which is fairly old now. The problem is - my laptop only has 1 USB port and the hard drive requires two USB ports.
> 
> Am I able to connect the Power and Data cable to my computer and back up while connecting the Power only cable to another computer at the same time?


 
Have you tried to connect the drive with just the main USB plugged into your computer?  I have several portable drives, and most will run fine with just the one connected.  Also, do not connect through a hub unless it is powered.  Unpowered hubs often rob devices of all of the port's power, and this can be a problem if the drive needs all of the port's power.  Conversely, if you cannot get the drive to run, you could try a powered port.

--Ken


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## Tony Parkes (Sep 12, 2008)

Hi,

Thank you very much for this help..


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## Sean McCormack (Sep 12, 2008)

If it's really an issue, buy a powered hub for the initial transfer.


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