Yup, that glowing mess was once a hard drive.

Thermite's a blend of iron oxide and aluminum, and when it goes off it's pretty crazy, reaching iron-melting temperatures in seconds, and spitting gobbets of metal everywhere. So don't try this at home. Really. 'Cause it might not stop reacting at the bottom of your PC case, and molten metal dropping through your floor is just bloody dangerous. [Hackaday]

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. — September 15, 2008 — Seagate (NYSE: STX), the world leader in storage solutions, today announced the Fall 2008 lineup of the company’s award-winning FreeAgent™ external hard drives. This new generation of the Seagate® FreeAgent™ family includes attractive desktop and mobile options, for both Mac® and Windows® operated PCs that make it a breeze to back up, share and protect valuable digital content like photos, videos and music.

Seagate’s flagship offering, the FreeAgent Go portable storage solution, is the slimmest external drive available today. At a height of only 12.5mm, the new FreeAgent Go easily fits in a pocket while still including all the advanced shock and vibration protection people have come to expect from Seagate. Another industry first, the new FreeAgent Go is the first external hard drive to offer a docking option, providing a practical way to move from the desk to the road, while leaving the hassle of fumbling with cables and locating USB ports to the history books. With up to 500GB of capacity, the FreeAgent Go bridges the gap between standard portable solutions and desktop solutions with enough storage to carry entire libraries of movies, pictures and music. No longer does one need to sacrifice capacity for portability, Seagate FreeAgent Go provides the benefits and convenience of both in a truly seamless on-the-go package.

“With the amount of content being created and consumed today, the average broadband household will soon need close to a terabyte of storage to account for their personal media collections on PCs, portable devices, and DVRs,” said Jane Shields, research analyst, Parks Associates. “With Seagate’s coupling of high-capacity, reliable and easy-to-use solutions with attractive designs, the company is helping more people enjoy the benefits that come with backup and sharing of their digital media collections.”

“The growth of the 2.5-inch form factor external hard disk drive market has been very strong – almost doubling in 2Q08 compared with 2Q07,” said Wolfgang Schlichting, research director, Removable Storage at IDC. “This growth is much higher than the overall market and driven by the products’ convenient size and connectivity, as well as their large storage capacity and affordability.”

The FreeAgent Go desktop docking station is sold separately and comes paired with a black leatherette carrying case to add style while protecting the drive from the bumps and scratches encountered while traveling in hand bags and during other on-the-road adventures. The FreeAgent Go is now available in a variety of popular colors, including silver, black, red, and blue. The drive also ships with a flexible, thin USB 2.0 travel cable.

The FreeAgent Desk drive and FreeAgent XTreme™ drive are the family’s two 3.5-inch high-capacity desktop offerings, and provide up to 1.5 Terabytes of storage. The sleek and modern design of these drives provides the flexibility to sit horizontally or stand vertically to maximize your workspace. The FreeAgent Desk drive is a brushed aluminum high-capacity solution with a USB 2.0 interface. The FreeAgent XTreme drive is a black, brushed aluminum high-capacity storage solution with a triple interface of eSATA, USB 2.0 and FireWire 400.

“The first FreeAgent storage solution offering introduced in 2007 unquestionably made a mark for Seagate in the consumer space, demonstrating that hard drives can be designed to provide a stylish complement to a computing environment,” said Pat King, senior vice president of Seagate’s Consumer Solutions Division. This second-generation of FreeAgent storage solutions takes the extra step of providing easy-to-use technology in a consumer-friendly package.”

Seagate FreeAgent drives are compatible with Windows® Vista® and Windows® XP® Operating Systems and come equipped with Seagate Manager™ software, an enhanced application that provides scheduled automated back-ups and multi-computer synchronization. The FreeAgent drives for Windows also offer security in the form of software-based AES-256bit encryption and Seagate DrivePass™ password protection for drive access to help keep your information safe and private. The environmentally smart utilities help save energy by putting the drive in sleep mode once it has been idle for 15 minutes. Seagate FreeAgent hard drives include Energy Star 5 rated AC adapters and are now packaged in 100% recyclable materials. And with Seagate’s industry-leading five-year limited warranty, the FreeAgent storage solutions provide the confidence that your digitally-captured memories and life’s work is on a hard drive you can trust.

As part of this product introduction, Seagate will also unveil external storage solutions designed specifically for the Mac community. The Mac community has spoken and Seagate is listening. The FreeAgent Go for Mac and FreeAgent Desk for Mac are both formatted for use with Mac OS X out of the box and are Time Machine ready with FireWire800/400 or USB 2.0 connectivity. Seagate understands that Mac customers have specific needs and performance requirements and these demands are being met with the FreeAgent external hard drive for Mac offering.

FreeAgent™ | Go Drive for Mac
With a FireWire 800/400 interface, docking station and carrying case the Seagate FreeAgent Go drive for Mac is equipped to move seamlessly between the desktop and road. Formatted for use with Mac OS X and Time Machine ready, the FreeAgent Go for Mac is the perfect back up companion for any Apple® computer. Seagate FreeAgent Go for Mac is available this month for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $159.99 USD for 250GB and $189.99 USD for 320GB.

FreeAgent™ | Desk Drive for Mac
The high-capacity FreeAgent Desk drive for Mac features a brushed aluminum arctic silver finish that is a perfect match for the current iMac Desktop. With a FireWire 800/400 connection and tuned to be Time Machine ready, the FreeAgent Desk for Mac is available this month for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $169.99 USD for 500GB, $269.99 USD for 1TB and $349.99 USD for 1.5TB (available in October).

FreeAgent™ | Go Drive
A pocket-sized storage drive that packs a punch, the Seagate FreeAgent Go drive is slim, compact and shipping in four color options available as of this month in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $119.99 USD for 250GB, $149.99 USD for 320GB and $239.99 for 500GB.

FreeAgent™ | Dock and Case
Protection for those on the go and a docking station for convenient and quick access to your files, these accessories for the FreeAgent Go drive are sold separately. The dock and case will be available in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $29.99 USD.

FreeAgent™ | Desk Drive
This convenient desktop storage solution, Seagate FreeAgent Desk drive, is the perfect desktop companion for basic back up and security for all your digital files. This high-capacity USB 2.0 interfaced drive provides enough room to hold libraries of images, music and video. The FreeAgent Desk drive is available as of this month in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific, for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $129.99 USD for 500GB, $149.99 USD for 640GB, $229.99 USD for 1TB and $279.99 USD for 1.5TB (available in October).

FreeAgent™ | XTreme™ Drive
Designed for performance, especially for those who work with high-definition video and graphic files, the Seagate FreeAgent XTreme drive is the perfect fit. The FreeAgent XTreme delivers a 3GB per second transfer rate with the eSATA connection. This drive also includes FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 connection options. The FreeAgent XTreme is available worldwide for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $159.99 USD for 500GB, $179.99 USD for 640GB, $259.99 USD for 1TB and $299.99 USD for 1.5TB (available in October).

[Seagate]

Jul 15, 2008 21:57

Toshiba Launches 400GB 2.5-Inch HDD Introduces New Line-up Of 7,200rpm Drives

-400GB Drive Cuts Acoustic Noise During Data Seek By 2dB(1) For near Silent Operation-
TOKYO —(Business Wire)— Jul. 15, 2008 Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced a new line-up of high performance 2.5-inch HDDs, including a low-noise flagship model that boosts areal density to 477Mbit/mm2 (308Gbpsi) to achieve a capacity of 400GB on just two platters, plus five drives that bring new levels of performance and 7,200rpm rotational speeds to the company's full range of storage capacities.

Mass production of the 400GB MK4058GSX will start from September, targeting notebook PC and consumer electronic applications. Mass production of the 7,200rpm drives will start in August. The line-up includes the 320GB MK3254GSY and models with 80, 120, 160 and 250GB capacities.

Toshiba will feature the new drives at DISKCON JAPAN 2008, organized by The International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association (IDEMA), which will be held in Tokyo, Japan, from July 22 to 23, and at IFA 2008, one of the world's largest consumer electronics trade fairs, which will be held in Berlin, Germany, from August 29 to September 3.

The MK4058GSX uses an improved read-write head and enhanced magnetic layer to boost areal density to 477Mbit/mm2 and achieve a capacity of 400GB on only two platters, the highest data density of any of Toshiba's 2.5-inch HDD. A further plus is that acoustic noise during data seek has been reduced by 2 decibels (dB), compared to the company's current top-of-the-line 320GB MK3252GSX, making operation almost inaudible. As a result, the new 400GB drive is ideally suited for noise-free playback of movies and music on notebook PCs and digital products. These advances are complemented by an improved energy consumption efficiency(2) that makes the MK4058GSX approximately 20% more efficient than Toshiba's current top-of-the-line MK3252GSX.

The five other drives that Toshiba has added to its line-up take full advantage of a 7,200rpm rotation speed to boost performance. Compared to the current 200GB model (MK2049GSY), the 320GB MK3254GSY improves maximum internal data transfers rate by approximately 14% to support high-speed processing of high volume data, meeting demand for notebook and desktop PCs offering faster performance. The 320GB drives is also 37% more efficient than the MK2049GSY in terms of energy consumption efficiency(2). All of the drives, available in a line-up of 80, 120, 160, 250 and 320GB capacities, support an optional Free Fall Sensor function, that detects a falling HDD and parks the head before impact.

All the new drives comply with the European Union's RoHS directive(3) for eliminating use of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, and the MK4058GSX is Toshiba's first halogen-free(4) 2.5-inch HDD.

Toshiba Group, a Corporate Citizen of the Planet Earth, is committed to realizing a better environment. Guided by "Toshiba Group Environmental Vision 2050" the Group is implementing measures to boost environmental efficiency by 10 times in FY2050, against the benchmark of FY2000. The core target is to reduce projected CO2 emissions by a total equivalent to 117.7 million tons a year by FY2025, through the development and sales of highly efficient power supply equipment and systems, and the manufacture of environmentally conscious home appliances and office equipment. By working to mitigate global warming, make efficient use of resources and control management of chemicals, Toshiba Group creates value for people and promotes lifestyles in harmony with the Earth.

Background

2.5-inch hard disk drives are now found in many and diverse applications, from desktop and mobile PCs to other digital consumer products. The market has a voracious appetite for larger data capacities, as more powerful networks and applications bring audio-visual capabilities to more products. Toshiba will sustain the industry's ability to meet customer needs by providing cutting-edge technologies that add to areal density, operating speed and overall drive performance.

Key Features of New Products

MK4058GSX

1. Achieving areal density of 477Mbit/mm2 (308Gbspi).

MK4058GSX achieves an areal density of 477Mbit/mm2, by the result of improving the read-write head and of an enhanced magnetic layer. With the same two platter design as Toshiba's current 320GB design, the new model offers a 400GB capacity, the largest yet achieved, while retaining the 9.5mm thickness of its predecessor.

2. 2dB acoustic noise reduction in data seek.

Toshiba has directed its latest advances in HDD technology to reduce noise by 2dB, suppressing it to a level where users can playback movies and music without any noise distraction during data seek.

3. Improved energy consumption efficiency.

Compared to the 320GB MK3252GSX, the new MK4058GSX improves energy consumption efficiency, as defined under the Japanese legal standard, to 0.0015W/GB, a 20% improvement.

4. Environmentally conscious products

(1) Halogen Free Product

The MK4058GSX is Toshiba's first 2.5-inch HDD that achieve chlorine and bromine concentrations below the standard required for recognition as a Toshiba environmentally conscious products, an ECP (below 900ppm for each, and an overall total below 1,500ppm).

(2) Lower CO2 emissions during the product lifecycle

During their lifecycle, the new drives will lower CO2 emissions by approximately 95g a year(5).

(3) RoHS compatible

The new drive complies with the European Union's RoHS directive for eliminating use of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

(4) MK4058GSX meets standards for certification as a standout Toshiba ECP

Toshiba is promoting an "Excellent ECP" program to stimulate creation of high value products offering exceptional environmental friendliness. For more information, visit http://www.toshiba.co.jp/env/en/products/index.htm

MK3254GSY and other 7,200rpm drives

1. Expanding the 7,200rpm line-up to a storage capacity of 320GB.

An improved read-write head and enhanced magnetic layer combine with a rotation speed of 7,200rpm to realize a maximum storage capacity of 320GB. Toshiba's 7,200rpm HDD offer a wide line-up of capacities: 80, 120, 160, 250 and 320GB.

2. Improved energy consumption efficiency

Compared to the 200GB MK2049GSY, the new MK3254GSY improves energy consumption efficiency, as defined under the Japanese legal standard, to 0.0028W/GB, a 37% improvement.

3. Free Fall Sensor function integrated (option).

The new 7,200rpm drive support an optional Free Fall Sensor function, which detects a falling HDD and parks the head before it crashes.

4. Environmentally conscious products

(1) RoHS compatible

The new drives comply with the European Union's RoHS directive for eliminating use of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

(2) The new 7,200rpm drives meet standards for certification as a standout Toshiba ECPs

Toshiba is promoting an "Excellent ECP" program to stimulate creation of high value products offering exceptional environmental friendliness. For more information, visit http://www.toshiba.co.jp/env/en/products/index.htm

*1 Comparison based on Toshiba's current 2.5-inch HDD (MK3252GSX).

*2 Energy consumption efficiency is calculated based power consumption divided by formatted capacity, as defined by Japanese law.

*3 The RoHS Directive, which came into effect in July 2006, is a European Union directive that eliminates the use of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

*4 Chlorine and bromine reductions are targeted, and concentrations are controlled to a level below the standard required for recognition as a Toshiba environmentally conscious products, an ECP (below 900ppm for each, with an overall total below 1,500ppm).

*5 Comparison based on MK6015MAP (Year 2000 model). Based on Toshiba's evaluation method of LCA (Life Cycle Assesment).

The Price: $200

The Verdict: This thing kinda sucks. I was hoping the ScreenPlay would be able to replace my current setup of streaming media over an Xbox 360. The 360 works most of the time, but sometimes it gets hung up buffering large files, and I don't have an external HDD the size of the ScreenPlay to plug into it. If this one could play all the codecs of the Xbox while looking halfway decent and not lagging, I'd convert in a heartbeat.

The first problem came when I tried to load files from my Mac. The drive is formatted in NTFS, rendering it incompatible with OS X. Worried I'd lose the ScreenPlay's UI if I formatted the drive, I got some files from my roommate's PC first. (Later, I formatted the drive to FAT, and everything loaded fine from both computers.) The AVIs transferred quickly, and I hooked it up to the TV via HDMI.

The UI is just a basic file manager, nothing special or sexy about it. One thing I found particularly annoying is that the button in the center of the D-Pad is "Play" and not "OK," so pressing play on a folder went straight to the first file. It took me about five times of hitting it to figure it out. However, I did like that the ScreenPlay accepted multiple levels of folders, something I haven't been able to figure out for my Mac files on the Xbox.

Picture quality on the ScreenPlay wasn't very good. It claims to upscale content, but my low-qual Flight of the Conchords videos looked like junk, and higher-res BSG episodes looked the same as they do on Xbox. When I tried to play a 720p ep of Planet Earth, I got a "resolution not supported" error—this never happens on Xbox. The MP4 videos that I use to encode all my Handbrake rips didn't show up in the menu, since they are not supported. Music and photo playback were decent, but the interface wasn't nearly as robust as the Xbox.

The ScreenPlay HD didn't meet my expectations at all. Sure, it can play some videos and other multimedia, and it's nice to not worry about buffering, but the playback limitations outweigh the benefits. On top of that, $200 is steep for a 500GB HD, especially considering Iomega sells others for under $100. There's no chance that this would replace my Xbox for watching computer media on TV, but it could make a nice, if expensive, addition to plug into the 360's USB port. [Iomega]

THE CABLE SHOW '08, New Orleans — May 19, 2008 — At NCTA's Cable Show, Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX) announced it will introduce its Seagate® Showcase™ storage solution, a new series of products that extends the storage capacity of your Digital Video Recorder (DVR), so you never have to say goodbye to your favorite movies and television shows. Seagate also announced that the Showcase family of products will be designed to be compatible with Motorola's market leading e-SATA capable high-definition (HD) digital video recorder (DVR) set-top portfolio.

The new Showcase™ products will provide television and movie fans with the ability to store even more shows, movies and sporting events. With initial capacities up to 1TB, consumers will be able to keep up to 200 hours of additional HD movies or 1,000 hours of additional standard definition television. You'll never have to choose between your kids' favorite shows or the big game. Plug-and-play capability, via standard USB 2.0 or eSATA connection, makes setup easy while the stylish design fits seamlessly into entertainment centers and complements the look of existing A/V equipment.

"Today's consumers are constantly demanding more storage for high-definition video and high-fidelity audio - and they want it as part of their home entertainment system," said Patrick King, senior vice president of Seagate's Consumer Solutions Division. "We believe that the Seagate Showcase product line will take its place alongside the receiver, speaker system and television as a must-have component for the entertainment center. We are pleased to be working with Motorola to enable an enjoyable consumer experience."

"As consumer video consumption continues to increase at exponential rates, Motorola strives to provide flexible and cost-effective solutions" commented Larry Robinson, vice president, Set Top Product Management at Motorola. "By demonstrating interoperability with the Seagate Showcase storage solution we are offering consumers additional compelling storage options for their entertainment content."

The new Showcase family will feature Seagate's recently announced Pipeline HD™ Series of hard drives purpose-built for DVRs. Seagate Pipeline HD™ Series hard drives are the gold standard in high definition performance and capacity with bedroom-quiet acoustics, low power operation and the ability to support up to 12 simultaneous HD streams. The drives are Windows Vista Certified, making them an ideal solution for Home Media Centers.

Seagate is working with Motorola, the leader in digital set-tops with over 73 million shipped, to deliver external storage solutions for DVRs. By connecting a Seagate Showcase product with its included eSATA cable, the capacity of these DVRs can instantly be increased - eliminating the need to delete your favorite movies or shows. The 1TB Seagate Showcase drive can be seen exclusively in the Motorola booth # 1405 during The Cable Show '08 at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

Availability

Seagate Showcase™ products are scheduled to be available for purchase on the Seagate website beginning in the third calendar quarter of 2008.

• Little Big Disk Quadra ($475.) Designed with video editing in mind, fast speeds, large content handling and portability is the deal with this drive. Available in 7200 RPM (400GB) and 5400 RPM (500GB) versions.

• LaCinema Premier ($229). Functions as a multimedia hard drive, with a USB 2.0 connection port. PC and Mac compatible, it is available in 500GB, 750GB and 1TB versions. There's no word on what files are supported beyond, "a wide range of video, audio and photo formats," so we guess that has you covered.

• LaCie Big Disk Extreme+ ($360). Which has eSATA and USB2.0 connection ports, will be available in 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB capacities. Mac and PC compatible, it contains a self backup software suite and has super fast 3Gbits eSATA connectivity.

• LaCie 324 LCD Display. This is a 24-inch monitor with professionals in mind. Various technologies in place (Gamma Correction,) ensure minimal on screen banding. It has a 16:10 wide-screen format and will retail for $1050 when it hits in January.

Check the press release below:

LaCie Announces Five New Solutions
At CES 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada

PORTLAND, OR (January 2008) - LaCie is bringing in the New Year by
announcing five new solutions at this year's Consumer Electronic Show (CES)
in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 7-10. To help customers easily manage their
digital lives, from professionals to everyday users, these new LaCie
products pair innovative design with powerful technology to create ultimate
Solutions by Design.

These new products are based on LaCie's philosophy of bringing to market
simple-to-use, yet sophisticated solutions designed to perform flawlessly
under pressure. For a hands-on look, please visit us at the Sands Expo and
Convention Center, booth number 73743.

New products include:

LaCie d2 Quadra is newly redesigned yet still offers the same quadruple
interface (USB/FW400/FW800/eSATA) usability the drive became famous for.
With 60 percent more surface area than a standard design, it offers more
efficient heat dissipation without the need of a noisy fan. Available in
capacities of 320GB to 1TB, the easy-to-use d2 Quadra is a professional
solution for multiple high performance storage applications. The d2 Quadra
is available today starting at $189.

LaCie Little Big Disk Quadra is an amazingly fast mobile disk designed for
speed-intensive and capacity demanding applications such as digital content
creation, high-volume data exchange, and video editing - all while on the
road. As fast as the thoroughbred LaCie Big Disk Extreme+ desktop drive,
the Little Big Disk has been designed by Neil Poulton to offer quiet
operation and superior heat dissipation with an integrated fanless cooling
system. Ensuring superior reliability thanks to its aluminum heat-sink
design, the Little Big Disk Quadra will be available in 400GB and 500GB
versions with either 7200 or 5400 RPM drives, respectively. The Little Big
Disk Quadra is available today starting at $475.

LaCie LaCinema Premier is a USB 2.0, multimedia hard drive that easily
creates a home entertainment center for enjoying movies, photos and music.
Connect the device to a PC or Mac to transfer digital files, when done,
simply plug the device directly into a television for instant playback.
Available in capacities of 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB, the LaCinema Premier
supports a wide range of video, audio and photo formats, while an optical
output enables surround sound enjoyment. Designed for ease of use, playback
can be navigated using an on-screen menu and the included remote control.
The LaCinema Premier is available today starting at $229.

LaCie Big Disk Extreme+ eSATA and USB 2.0 will be available in 1TB, 1.5TB,
and 2TB capacities and comes with professional EMC® Retrospect® for advanced
backup management and data restoration for Windows and Mac users. This
versatile storage solution is equipped with blazing fast eSATA 3Gbits
connectivity, and can reach impressive burst transfers rates of up to
125MB/s thanks to built-in RAID 0 capabilities. The LaCie Big Disk
Extreme+ is very easy to use and features the quintessential Neil Poulton d2
design
maximum protection and heat dissipation. The LaCie Big Disk Extreme+ eSATA
and USB 2.0 version will be available February '08 starting at $360.

LaCie 324 LCD Display is a new 24-inch monitor targeting the needs of
creative professionals. Equipped with an industry-leading S-PVA panel,
which offers superb colors thanks to its wide 92 percent NTSC gamut, the new
LaCie 324 also embeds a 10-bit Gamma Correction mechanism that minimizes
banding and ensures color gradients are smoothly rendered. With its 16:10
wide-screen format, this monitor can showcase two letter-size (A4) pages
side by side with additional room for palettes and toolbars. The LaCie 324
will be available end of January starting at $1050.

About LaCie

Located in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Hong
Kong, LaCie is the leading manufacturer of computer peripherals for PC,
Apple and Linux users. LaCie creates external storage solutions and color
monitors that help professionals and everyday people easily manage their
digital lives. LaCie has differentiated its products through original
designs and leading-edge technology. Established in France in 1989, LaCie is
listed on Euronext under FR0000054314 (LAC). For more information, visit
www.lacie.com .

I said "void the warranty" and I meant it. The process I went through today means it'll be harder for me to complain to Apple if things get weird, so be cautious! Given the experience I've had, I think it will get easier and easier to swap HDDs, like RAM, because on the software side, at least as far as Apple goes, installing a fresh 2.5" SATA turns out to be straightforward, and ready for novices.

The key here is that there's no preparation needed for the new drive. As long as you've backed up your old drive to an external disk using Time Machine, you can prepare for the grand opening. I won't bore you with gory details, except to say that I found a good bit of guidance from this dude's blog.
The Process
From here on in, this issue may just as well apply to MacBooks and even iMacs as well as MacBook Pros, so everyone should take note.

Once you open up the system and swap out the drives, you can set the old drive aside, hopefully never to use it again. Assuming all went well, you restart the system and insert an OS X Leopard installation DVD. You won't need the OS installer on it, but you will need it to act as mediator between the Time Machine backup drive and the newly installed blank drive. Once it boots up (you may need to manually restart to get it to work right) follow these instructions CAREFULLY:

1. Choose your language.

2. At the main screen, choose Disk Utility from the Utilities pull-down menu.

3. Select the drive itself and click on Partition.

4. In the Partition menu, select 1 Partition and Options... where you choose GUID Partition Table. Click OK then Apply, then say "yes" to whatever warning comes up.

5. Once you have reformatted the drive, close the Disk Utility window.

6. Do Not Go Forward. Instead, when you see the main Welcome screen, click the Back button, which takes you to the language select page. It sounds silly but DO IT. This shakes the system into action.

7. Once you have reselected your language and are back on the Welcome screen, click Utilities and select Restore System From Backup...

8. The process should go smoothly from that point on. You simply select appropriate disks to copy your chosen backup data from your Time Machine drive to the new internal drive, as shown in the following sequence:

The Back Story
Originally I tried my swap without first clicking back to the language page, and the installer could not find my new hard drive. Disk Utility saw it and happily formatted it with the GUID partition, but even on the second pass, the installer wouldn't show it as a target option. All I got was this hollow emptiness:
I spoke with Jeerun Chan at Western Digital and asked him to try the same process, which yielded the same results. Then I tried it with another virginal hard drive, this time a 160GB SATA from Seagate. Between the two of us, we ran this test on three different configurations, with the same negative results.

The obvious but depressing solution was to just run the Leopard system installer, then use the migration tool to back up from my Time Machine drive. It's fairly smooth, and smart if you want a clean install on your new drive, but it's boring: it takes a few steps, and they're all obvious. I wanted a bit-for-bit dump from backup to new drive, fully automatic.

As I was installing Leopard on my second drive, the phone rang: it was Jeerun with the crazy back-button technique. I don't know how he thought to do it—I don't even think he knows, but the fact remains: when you have formatted your destination drive and are on the Welcome screen, click the back button and the process will work. If you don't click it, well, in our experience, it seems you will fail in your objective.

Obviously, this won't work if you don't regularly do a full system backup in Time Machine. If the omitted folders in your Time Machine options include system files, you won't be able to do this.

In truth, it might make sense to backup only personal files, especially since this process requires a Leopard install disk even to write the whole image back onto the new drive. Chen swears by SuperDuper, which is perhaps a better pro technique, one that doesn't require a system-install DVD. Still, I wanted to see if this major boast of Time Machine was all that it was cracked up to be. It is, and the end result will be tasty, as long as you don't forget that one little catch.

As with my last Time Machine HDD discovery, this one involves a little hocus pocus. While this method works, you may have your own trick, or a more scientific approach. If so, please share it in the comments below, and spare any fellow Mac users a frustrating afternoon.

Thanks to Jeerun and Heather at WD!

The stupid-sounding tebibyte (and its little brother, the gibibyte) is the technical term for a TB counted in binary. So you might just see HDDs sold as both terabyte models and tebibyte models, with the tebibyte model having about 10% more storage on board. Or, more likely, the packaging will just get labels that have a confusing disclaimer about the binary method, people will get a $20 check from the class action lawsuit, and that'll be the end of it. Justice! [CNET via Gadget Labs]

The internal investigation by the contract manufacturer determined that the virus was accidentally transferred by one of its employees and not a malicious act.

Reuters reported that it was a Seagate disk discovered in Taiwan, but the truth is, the Maxtor Basics 3200 (aka PS 3200) is available all over the world, and the infected lot made its way to many regions including China, Russia and the Middle East. Our source confirmed that the problem was discovered internally almost two months ago, and only boiled over last week when the Taiwanese government got mad at China:

In late September, Seagate discovered that a virus had been introduced to one of our retail products from one contract manufacturer. Seagate put an immediate stop to the production line and quarantined the facility until we could confirm that all drives leaving the factory were free of the virus.

Maxtor explains that the extent of damage of the Chinese-made Trojan-horse was minor:

Investigation...showed it was a threat to gaming passwords only and that a virus scan...would rid the drive—and any system attached to it—of the virus. Also, there have been some references to the virus deleting MP3s. Although it is a minor inaccuracy, this is also incorrect. The original suspicion out of Kaspersky Labs was that MP3s were being deleted by the virus, but tests have since proved that it does not.

• Test software verifies that each PS 3200 unit contains no files in the root directory and no files are hidden in the system files. The PS 3200 product line does not ship with any software.
• The PS 3200 test procedure has been updated to run each unit through three separate anti-virus software applications (Norton, McAfee, and Kaspersky Labs). Previously testing was conducted with one anti-virus application.
• Seagate has strictly limited employees access to the test PCs; all employees must now pass through metal detectors.

Metal detectors sound pretty hardcore, but I for one am satisfied. Hopefully other companies with similar manufacturing vulnerabilities will learn from Seagate's little misadventure. [Maxtor Basics 3200]

Seagate's touting its newest Cheetah drive, the 15k.6, as "the highest-performance drive ever in a 3.5-inch form factor" with lower power consumption (hopefully less noise, too) and a 28-percent boost in sustained data transfer rates. It'll be available in 147, 300 and 450GB flavors.

Rounding out the three is a perpendicular recording notebook drive, the Momentus 5400.4, which features capacities up to 250GB on two platters. Seagate claims it'll withstand up to 325 Gs of shock during operation and 900 during non-operation—sounds like a challenge to us. It's set to ship by the end of the year. [Seagate, Seagate]

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.-September 5, 2007-Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX) today introduced the next generation of the company's award winning Maxtor OneTouch™ products. Built on a long tradition of experience with simple and robust storage solutions, the new Maxtor OneTouch 4 family makes data protection and security effortless with innovative, easy-to-use software tools that make a once complex task, simple. These intuitive new tools, which are now integrated into the Maxtor OneTouch 4 family of products, include: the ability to perform multiple-computer data synchronization, drag-and-drop encryption and a bare metal system restore. In the event of a fatal crash or virus attack, Maxtor's SafetyDrill™, the new bare metal system restore feature, allows the nearly instantaneous restoration of an entire computer ensuring access to files even in a time of crisis. With an unparalleled standard 5-year limited warranty, anyone who is concerned about data protection now has a solution to provide the peace of mind that theirs is safe and secure.

The Maxtor OneTouch 4 family sports a new industrial design that conveys security and an enhanced interface to provide a new level of consistency and ease of use. The new high-capacity Maxtor OneTouch 4 family is visually reassuring with its aesthetically appealing "vault-like" appearance that compliments any home or office setting. Reinforcing Seagate's commitment to providing durable and innovative storage solutions, these good looking reliable data protectors feature improved acoustics, optimized convection cooling systems, and an inner disc drive casing and shock mounts for additional drive protection.

"As a leader in consumer storage and backup solutions, it's our job to protect the important digital files that are an essential piece of our customers' lives. Our years of safeguarding digital assets have taught us that data backup and protection needs to be virtually effortless for the consumer to adopt," said Jim Druckrey, senior vice president and general manager, Seagate Branded Solutions. "We've engineered our new Maxtor OneTouch 4 family of storage solutions from the ground up to be the easiest, most trustworthy way to back up and store digital media, business data and personal information even in the most demanding environments. Whether you're a consumer with treasured digital photos, creative professional with valuable digital assets, business traveler with confidential company documents or simply serious about data protection, you can use our trusted, intuitive storage solutions and know that Seagate is saving your life's work."

In addition to automatically backing up on a set schedule or with the touch of a button with the Maxtor Backup software suite, the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus and Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini both include Maxtor SafetyDrill™. This new, innovative software feature, for computers running Microsoft® Windows® XP or Windows® Vista operating systems, allows the complete recovery of your local hard drive's contents in the event of a system crash or virus attack. After the simple installation and set up of the pre-loaded software, you are prepared for the worst. At a time of system failure, simply boot from the included SafetyDrill Recovery CD and SafetyDrill takes over. The software will automatically find the Maxtor OneTouch 4 on your system and format, partition and restore everything including the operating system, applications, personal content, settings and even replace the icons on the desktop. All this is done to get your system up and running with minimal downtime and frustration. Without the CD, SafetyDrill can still be initiated by simply going to any Internet-connected computer with a CD/DVD burner to create a new disc.

Because of privacy concerns, the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus and the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini storage solutions include two levels of security to guard against unauthorized use of a lost or stolen drive. Maxtor Encryption creates a password-protected folder that is safe and reliable as well as easy to use. To encrypt: simply drag and drop sensitive data into the 256bit AES encrypted folder and the data is automatically encrypted. To decrypt: simply open the folder, enter your password and drag the files out. For added protection, Maxtor DrivePass™ (formerly Maxtor DriveLock™) is an embedded firmware feature that further restricts data access even if the internal hard drive is removed and attached to another computer.

With the new enhanced synchronization function that allows multiple sync paths, business travelers can be sure that both their home and office computers are up-to-date with the latest files and new digital content. Finally, we encompass all of this software in a simple, intuitive user-interface called Maxtor OneTouch Manager, to run the automated backup scheduling, specific file restoration, sync, security, drive and power management on computers running either Windows XP, Windows Vista or Mac OS X operating systems.

Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus
For everyone with data-protection needs that is looking for an elegantly simple, full-featured backup and storage solution, the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus sports a new vault-like industrial design that conveys security and protection. The elegant color scheme and design make it a good fit in any home or office setting. The manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRPs) are: $129.99 for 250GB, $199.99 for 500GB, $289.99 for 750GB and $359.99 for 1TB (availability for 1TB capacity is set for late October).

Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini
Offering the same protection as the desktop model in a travel friendly, compact design, the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini is the first mobile storage solution that ships with this full suite of software protection tools. The manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRPs) are: $99.99 for 80GB, $119.99 for 120GB and $149.99 for 160GB.

Maxtor OneTouch 4
For consumers who need a simple solution with a classic design for Mac or PC, the Maxtor OneTouch 4 makes it easier to set up and manage data backup, file archiving and system settings with a new easy-to-use user interface. The manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRPs) are: $99.99 for 250GB, $169.99 for 500GB, and $269.99 for 750GB.

The Maxtor OneTouch 4 family is available now - with the exception of the 1TB OneTouch 4 Plus - at major r etailers, distributors and online stores, as well as at www.maxstore.com. The Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus will ship in late October. Please visit www.maxtorsolutions.com for more information, including local distribution channels and retail outlets.

Some of my competitors went nuts on pricing... but, you know, we all peed in the pool

The drives come in 80GB and 160GB models and both sport 7,200-rpm speeds. No word on pricing as of yet, but they should be arriving later this month. –Adam Frucci

Samsung [via The Raw Feed]