Seagate Business Storage: Disk Part drives

Note: This article assumes you have an available Windows computer to perform this procedure. A disk part is only one of a few different ways to attain the same objective; if you own software that can do a zero fill, this is also an acceptable way to wipe the drives completely. A regular format through the use of a Mac or Windows operating system is not a comparable solution.

Here is the best way to completely wipe the drives inside a Business Storage 2Bay or 4Bay NAS for those who want to work with a completely fresh slate. This procedure will wipe all data on the drives, so Seagate recommends you have a good backup of your files on a different storage device before attempting these steps.

First, power off the Seagate Business Storage NAS. This can be done either through the Dashboard, under System and Administration. You can also power off the device using the power button, located on the front of the device.

Once the Seagate Business Storage NAS has been powered down, carefully take the drives out of the enclosure, and take the drives out of the trays.

You will then need to attach the drives to your Windows computer. If your Windows computer is a desktop computer, you should have extra room inside the tower to connect the drives. If that is not an option, or if your Windows computer is a laptop, you can also put the drives inside an external USB enclosure. Make sure your enclosure has a SATA connector inside as the drives inside the Seagate Business Storage NAS enclosure are SATA drives.

Your computer should detect the drives, but will not be able to read them. That is normal as the drives have a Linux partition on them. To do a Disk Part on the drives and completely wipe them, follow these steps:

1. Check what number the drive is detected as in your list of disks within your disk management utility. To access Disk Management, right click on (My) Computer, go to Manage, and then choose Disk Management. Within Disk Management this drive should show in your list of disks in the lower portion of Disk Management (Disk 1,2 3 etc etc). Take note of the disk number for the drive. You will need it shortly.
2. Open up a Command Prompt window. To get there, press the Windows key + R, type CMD into the box that opens, then press Enter.
3. Once the Command Prompt window opens, type diskpart and press Enter.
4. Once you are sure which drive is the correct drive to wipe from step 1, type select disk # (replace the # with the number you notated in step 3) and press Enter.
5. Type Clean and press Enter.

This will completely wipe the drive. The drive will be on a clean slate without a partition or initialization. Do not reformat the drive with the Windows operating system; instead, leave the drive as is and put it back into the Business Storage NAS enclosure.

Repeat for the other drive(s) until all drives have been cleaned in this manner.