User Manual

6 11
Troubleshooting/
Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs)
General Questions
Q: I bought a 500GB drive, but my computer is showing
465GB. Where is the missing capacity?
A: Hard drive manufacturers market drives in terms of
decimal (base 10) capacity. In decimal notation, one megabyte
(MB) is equal to 1,000,000 bytes, and one Gigabyte (GB)
is equal to 1,000,000,000 bytes. Many operating systems
use the binary (base 2) numbering system to describe disk
capacity; In the binary numbering system, one megabyte
is equal to 1,048,576 bytes, and one gigabyte is equal
to 1,073,741,824 bytes. Simply put, decimal and binary
translates to the same amount of storage capacity.
Q: Is my external hard drive bootable?
A: Yes! As long as your host hardware and operating
system support booting from USB. Refer to your computer’s
documentation for more information
Q: My drive was working fine yesterday but now its gone!
A: The disk may have been shut down without being
dismounted, or may have failed. If you do not hear and feel
the drive spin up when you connect the power, the drive will
need to be replaced. If you verify that the computer input and
the drive data cable are working, you may be able to repair
or recover the data with your computer’s disk repair utility
or a third party utility.
If your disk repair utility cannot repair or see the disk, the
drive has failed and will need to be replaced. If data recovery
is desired, please contact an established professional data
recovery firm. For a checklist of what qualities you might
seek, see www.drivesavers.com/why_drivesavers/index.
html or www.ontrack.com/services.
Connecting the drive
to Your Computer
Connect the mini USB 3.0 connector of the included USB
cable to the mini USB plug on the portable disk, and the
rectangular end to a free USB port on your computer.
USB plugs are shaped so they can only be properly
inserted one way. Be sure to insert the plugs properly or
you may damage the drive and void the warranty.
G-Force3 Mini requires 500mA of power to operate.
powered USB ports and powered USB hubs should supply
sufficient power to operate.
The drive should power up and be ready for use
automatically. If the LED blinks and drive does not
mount on the host operating system, your host
bus may not be providing sufficient power for the
drive. Please make sure both signal and power
USB connectors are attached.