A: If your drive is connected to a USB 2.0 port or hub, this is normal. A SuperSpeed USB 3.0 device can only operate at USB 3.0 performance levels when it is connected directly to a USB 3.0 port or hub. Otherwise, the USB 3.0 device will operate at the slower USB transfer rates. Consider buying a USB 3.0 PCI Express Card (for desktop computers) or an ExpressCard 34 (for laptops) to allow your computer to achieve full USB 3.0 transfer speeds.

A: Check to see that the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 drivers for both your host bus adapter and device have been installed correctly. If in doubt, uninstall the drivers and re-install them.

A: Please refer to the product packaging or consult the product support web page at www.lacie.com/support/ to check the minimum system requirements.

A: If your computer has a low-performance internal hard drive (typically a notebook or netbook computer), it will limit the transfer speed since the internal drive's transfer speed will be significantly less than that of the LaCie hard drive.

A: When copying files or folders from a computer to a FAT 32 volume, certain characters cannot be copied. These characters include, but are not limited to:

? < > / \ :

Since it does not offer optimal performance, LaCie does not recommend using the FAT 32 file system with your product. See Optional Formatting and Partitioning for help in choosing a file system. Additionally, Time Machine is only compatible with disks formatted in HFS+ or HFS+ (Journaled). Reformat the drive for Time Machine compatibility.

A: Simply ignore this message. The drive will remount to the desktop. LaCie drives conserve power by spinning down when you set your computer to sleep mode, and when the computer is awoken from sleep, it may not give the drive enough time to spin-up from its sleep mode.

A: Disk space will not be reclaimed until the file is completely erased. To remove the files forever, empty your trash/recycle bin.

A: After formatting, the available capacity of a drive will show less than advertised on the box. The difference is based upon how capacity is viewed by the operating system. For example, a hard drive that can store 500,000,000,000 bytes is divided by 1,000,000,000 to equal 500GB. This is the actual capacity listed on the manufacturer’s box. The operating system uses slightly different math, dividing 500,000,000,000 by 1,073,741,824 to equal 466GB.

A: Go to your Finder and check if Preferences > General tab > Show these items on the desktop: and then Hard Disks is selected. If not, go on to the next topic.

A: The Thunderbolt connector on your Mac looks similar to the Mini DisplayPort connector. While earlier Macintosh computers include one or more Mini DisplayPorts, they are only used to connect one or more monitors. Please note that legacy Macs with Mini DisplayPorts do not support Thunderbolt technology peripherals such as the LaCie Thunderbolt Series storage.

A: Thunderbolt storage devices require cables specifically constructed for Thunderbolt technology. Go to www.lacie.com for more information on cables that support Thunderbolt technology.

A:

• Review the installation steps (Getting Connected).
• Only use a cable that supports Thunderbolt technology on a Mac.
• Check both ends of the cable to make sure they are fully seated in their respective ports.
• Try disconnecting the cable then wait 10 seconds before reconnecting it.
• If the drive is still not recognized, restart your computer and try again.

A: Drivers are required for the Thunderbolt interface. Disconnect the Thunderbolt cable and attach the USB cable. To install drivers, follow the steps in Install Drivers (Windows Only). Then disconnect the USB cable and connect the Thunderbolt cable.

A:

• Check both ends of the cable to make sure they are fully seated in their respective ports.
• Try disconnecting the cable then wait 10 seconds before reconnecting it.
• If the drive is still not recognized, restart your computer and try again.

A: All LaCie drives appear in at least one place in Device Manager.

To access Device Manager, click on Start and select Run from the menu. In Windows Vista, the 'Run' option doesn't appear by default, so press [Windows-button] and [R] on your keyboard.

Enter the command: devmgmt.msc

Click OK and the Device Manager program will open. For troubleshooting, look in the Disk Drives section. It might be necessary to click on + on the left side.

If you're not sure if your drive is listed, unplug it, then reconnect it. The entry that changes is your LaCie drive.

A: Proceed to physical troubleshooting topics above.

A: Windows Device Manager can usually provide information about failures in accessories. It does not display the exact cause, or a solution, but it can assist in troubleshooting most problems.

A problematic device can be found by its unusual icon. Instead of the normal icon based on the type of device, it is instead an exclamation point, question mark, or an X.

Right-click this icon, then choose Properties. The General tab will show why the device is not working.

Still not working? There may be a hardware defect or other problem. Time to contact www.lacie.com/support/.