I have just installed the Seagate 320GB external hard drive and apparently successfully copied 10 picture files but cannot find how to view the contents to check that everything is OK

you can delete pictures and personal pictures of your hard drive
hope this helps

Since this external hard drive is USB powered and felt on the floor, you could have a broken USB connector or interface card, both located inside hard disk case, you should contact Seagate technical support or repair service, or if you have electronics skills, you could open and check hardware by yourself.

Seagate have agents around the world that can repair such.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/

the ntfs format is windows operating system format...
MAC will not recognize this format...
You need to format your hard disk according to the MAC OsX from your MAC computer...

Connect it to your old computer, to see if the backup-copy can be accessed and verified.

An I/O error indicates an issue with the device driver(s) that handle input/output processes such as copying files to/from hard drives, data in resident memory (RAM) waiting to be processed by the CPU or the controller chipset that handles the primary calls to/from the subsystems or a faulty hard drive.
Below are a few solutions that may help resolve the issue and allow you to transfer your files:
Before proceeding, you will need the following:
A. Computer B. External USB Hard Drive C. USB Cable D. RAM Module (Replacement, if necessary) E. Hard Drive (Replacement, if necessary) F. USB Hard Drive Enclosure (Replacement, if necessary) G. USB Cable (Replacement, if necessary)
Note: Solutions B/C apply only to Windows OS.
Solution A. Faulty USB Cable
1. Replace the USB cable. 2. Connect USB hard drive to the computer. 3. Attempt to copy a file from the drive. 4. If successful, copy additional files, as needed. If not successful, skip down to Solution B, step #1.

Solution B. Locked I/O Processes
1. Press and hold the power button on your desktop/laptop for about 10 seconds (or until the system has powered off completely). Then release the power button. 2. Make sure the USB drive is plugged in. 3. Wait another 10 seconds and press the button once again to power on the computer. 4. Once logged in, attempt to copy a single file from the drive 5. If successful, go to step #6. If not successful, skip down to Solution C, step #1. 6. Continue to copy files from the drive. Make sure to pay attention to what files (if any) prompt the I/O error message. If you receive an I/O error, skip down to Solution C, step #1.

Solution C. Motherboard Device Driver Installation/Update
1. Click on the "Start" menu and click on "Control Panel". 2. A new window will open, double-click on "System". 3. A new window will open, click on "Device Manager". 4. A new window will open, listed in the hierarchy are all the hardware components installed on the desktop/laptop. Look for any devices that display either a red "X", yellow "!" or yellow "?". These devices have either incorrect, incomplete or missing drivers/software and need to be installed, as they might be the root cause of the trouble. 5. If any of the above icons are present, perform a Windows Update by visiting the site below:
http://update.microsoft.com
Perform any updates available on the software and hardware side. 6. Restart your computer. 7. Follow Solution C, steps #1-4 to determine if any drivers still need updates. 8a. If updates are not needed, attempt to copy files from the hard drive. If successful, go to step #9. If not successful, skip down to Solution D, step #1. 8b. If updates are needed, you may need to visit the support site for your desktop/laptop's make/model and download any missing drivers. 9. Continue copying files, as needed.

Solution D. Faulty RAM
1. Power off the desktop/laptop and disconnect all cables. 2. Open the desktop/laptop. 3. Remove all the existing RAM. 4. Install the replacement RAM. 5. Power on the desktop/laptop. 6. Connect USB hard drive. 7. Test by copying some files from your hard drive. 8. If successful, close your desktop/laptop and continue copying files, as needed. If not successful, remove replacement RAM and reinstall previous RAM and skip down to Solution E, step #1.

Solution E. USB Hard Drive Case Faulty I/O Board
1. Power off computer/desktop and disconnect all cables. 2. Open your USB external case. 3. Remove your existing hard drive. 4. Install hard drive into replacement USB case. 5. Power on your computer. 6. Connect your USB external drive. 7. Copy files from your external USB hard drive. 8. If successful, continue to copy files, as needed. If not successful, skip down to Solution F, step #1.

F. Hard Drive Malfunction
1. Power off computer/desktop and disconnect all cables. 2. Open your USB external case. 3. Remove your existing hard drive. 4. Install replacement hard drive into USB case. 5. Power on your computer. 6. Connect your USB external drive. 7. Copy files from your external USB hard drive. 8. If successful, continue to copy files, as needed. If not successful, this could be an indiction of a much larger problem in the form of a Motherboard issue.
If the motherboard is malfunctioning, this is a sign of bigger things to come and will require a replacement board in order to correct.
In the event that the motherboard needs replacement, depending on the make/model of the desktop/laptop, the cost could range from $35-120 for 3rd-party boards or $85-300+ for consumer-level systems from manufacturers such as HP, Dell, etc. and $350-1000 from Apple.
If your desktop/laptop is still covered by the manufacturer's warranty or 3rd-party extended warranty, any hardware component that needs replacement should be covered at little to no out of pocket expense to the end-user. This also includes the external USB hard drive, as well.

you can this many different ways. The most straightforward is to go to the drive and select "folder and file options" in the view menu and selct "show hidden files", that way when you copy and paste you will get every single file. The other way is to use a program such as Acronis Tru Image and use the clone option. I am assuming that you want an image of your C:\ drive.

Windows Delayed write file error

Read this

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330174

since your talking about the External drives, a lot of reasons makes this happen. if the resolution above link cant help you, then try this:

Make sure that update the driver of your PC hard drive. Usually, this errors appear if your moving from one hard drive brand to another ex: seagate to samsung etc....

updated hard drive driver resolve this.

Make sure the cables are alright. Or at least have the latest service pack. USB drivers causes issues as well. I updated mine and the problem did not crop up anymore. hope this would help.

First of all HI :)

The main problem you have is that the file system of your hard drive is FAT32 not NTFS. You need to change it to NTFS in order to work. Here is how.

>> Copy all your data (the 50+GB you used) on to another hard drive
>> Now from My Computer
>> RIGHT CLICK
>> CHOOSE FORMAT
>> CHOOSE NTFS FILING SYSTEM
>> instead of FAT32 and
>> give your hard drive a nice full FORMAT

This will take a while and WARNING you will LOSE all your DATA so DOUBLE CHECK BEFORE YOU START THAT YOU COPIED EVERYTHING.

Hope that this Fixya Helps you :)

Best Regards
(please take some time to rate solution thanks)

Hi,

I understand that you are trying to move data from your computer to an external hard drive.

You can just copy and paste the files like Music, Pictures to the external movies when it is connected to the computer. The hard drive owuld be listed as an removable storage device icon in the My Computer window if you are using windows XP.

However, we cannot just copy and paste the programs in the hard drive. You need the installation files to be copied to the external hard drive, if you want them to eb backed up.