If you hear a beeping sound every time you plug in your Seagate external hard drive to your PC, you are at risk of data loss. The sound might be appearing due to one of the various reasons that range from a faulty port or cable to more critical components like spindle motor or read/write head malfunction. This comprehensive guide will talk about the potential reasons behind this problem and share the methods to fix them one by one. Moreover, you’ll get an additional tip to recover data from the hard drive to deal with the data loss.
What causes the Seagate External Hard Drive beeping?
It has been a classic issue with the hard disk drives that they develop mechanical problems after prolonged usage. The Seagate external hard drive is no exception. The beeping trouble in the hard drive could be due to the following reasons.
- Disrupted power supply to the drive.
- Dust or dirt accumulation inside the HDD.
- Faulty connection port or connecting cable.
- Bad sectors developed on the Seagate external hard drive.
- Malfunctioning read/write heads.
- Damage to the spindle or spinning motor
- External drive failure due to long-term use.
How to fix Seagate external hard drive beeping issue?
If you apply the below fixes with care, it is quite easy to fix the Seagate external hard drive beeping problem.
Disrupted Power Supply
The beeping of the hard drive indicates an error occurring on it. If the power supply to the drive is not continuous and as per the requirement of the disk, it causes disruptions in the key functions like platter spinning, etc. This is the most common reason behind the beeping problem. In most old computers, the USB 2.0 port is present to connect an external hard drive. However, the new hard drives need more power (800 mA) which is only delivered through a USB 3.0 port.
Solution: Check the specification of the port you are using to connect the hard drive and if there is a USB 3.0 port present on your PC, attach the Seagate external hard drive to it. You can also upgrade your USB port driver by downloading and installing the USB 3.0 driver. Moreover, you can connect your external drive to two ports on your PC, thus providing it the necessary power using a Y-cable. Remember, the Y-cable works on a limited number of Seagate external drives as specified in the official document by Seagate.
Dust or dirt accumulated in the drive
you have been using the Seagate hard drive in a dusty environment, there is a chance of dust/dirt entering the drive’s ports or other sections. This causes interference with the smooth functioning of the HDD, thus resulting in a beeping sound.
Solution: Use a mild ambient air blower to clean the ports and interiors of the drive. Do not open the storage device as it would be difficult for you to assemble it again and might cause physical or logical damage to the drive. Instead, gently blow the air in each port and let any dust stack be blown away.
Faulty USB port or connecting cable
Even if your PC has a USB 3.0 port, there could be some physical damage or software issues. Moreover, you can’t ignore the chances of a faulty connecting cable. In both cases, an error in the power supply or a communication issue might occur.
Solution: Update the drivers on your PC and reconnect the external HDD. You can also check the USB port and connecting cable by attaching your drive to another computer. If the hard drive stops beeping on connecting to the other computer, there is an issue with the port or cable, and you need to change the cable and try another port.
Excess bad sectors developed on the hard drive
When a storage device is used for too long without maintaining it regularly, it tends to develop unnecessary bad sectors. These sectors disrupt the communication and functioning of the hard drive. You can use the chkdsk command to check and repair the hard drive.
Solution: Follow the steps below to repair your Seagate drive using the command prompt.
- Search cmd in the search box and choose the Run as administrator option under Command Prompt.
- Insert command chkdsk D: /f /r /x in the command line (Replace the letter D with the letter of your external storage device).
- Press Enter and let the process complete.
- Remove the external drive and reconnect it to your PC.
The Seagate external hard drive’s beeping sound will be gone if it’s due to any disk error.
Malfunctioning read/write head
In the previous models of external hard drives, the read/write head used to be in a complete contact with the platter. As the Seagate external drive is a device with several moving parts, static friction occurs. This heats the platter and causes the Stiction (Static Friction) of the read/write head with the platter. As a result, the head cannot move freely and smoothly, thus causing the beeping sound. If you recently dropped or bumped the drive, it may be the reason behind stiction.
Solution: You might try to open the drive and fix the platter and head. But it’s highly risky and can cause further damage and data loss. Unfortunately, it’s a case of severe damage, and you can’t do much on your own to fix it. You need to reach out to an expert to get your drive repaired.
Damaged spindle motor
This is again a case of physical damage. For example, if the drive has met a sudden bump or drop, the spindle will get damaged, and the platter won’t be able to spin, causing the hard drive beeping issue. Similarly, if the motor of your hard drive is short-circuited, burnt, or physically damaged, it will hinder the smooth spinning of the platter.
Solution: If you cannot fix the beeping issue until this stage, it’s probably due to the motor issue. Again, we suggest you connect with an expert to get it repaired as it’s a delicate task and requires expertise.
Drive failure due to long-term use
Every hard disk has a limited lifespan, after which it starts to fail due to too many bad sectors or physical deterioration. The average lifespan of a regularly used hard disk is approximately 4-5 years. If your device has surpassed this age, the beeping sound is an indication of its failure, and you should immediately recover your data from the failing device.
Solution: If your Seagate drive is still showing up on your PC and you can access it, transfer the data to another reliable device or your PC. If it has gone inaccessible, use third-party data recovery software to recover your valuable data and store it on another storage device.
Additional tip to recover data from Seagate external drive
If you face the beeping issue on your external HDD, it’s wise to recover all your data using Stellar Data Recovery Standard Edition for Windows. The software is compatible with the latest Windows 11 and can recover external and internal HDD data in three simple steps. The DIY software is easy to use yet very effective in recovering any file type on your Windows 11/10/8/7 PC.
Conclusion
Everyone is dealing with voluminous data in these data-driven times, and to manage such volume, the internal storage of a PC is not enough. You need an external hard disk to store your data. Although, mere keeping your data on an external drive is not sufficient, and you must conduct file management at regular intervals. This will safeguard your data and grant longevity to your storage device.
