[SpiffGQ]

I emailed Seagate tech support. Here is the response I got:

Quote:

Hello:

Thank you for your inquiry. The latest generation of our high-capacity drives have been programmed to perform regular OFF-LINE SCANS to test the drive?s reliability and detect any possible malfunctions. The OFF-LINE Scanning takes place when the drive is idle. This feature cannot be disabled, but does not affect the performance of the disc drive.

This feature helps to maintain the reliability of the drive by moving the heads within the "high-flight zone" in a pre-programmed pattern. The "high flight zone" is toward the outside of the platters where the most air flows under the heads during times of inactivity.

If you feel that there is a problem with the drive, you can run our SeaTools Desktop Edition http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/ to check the physical integrity of the drive.

If you are disturbed by the amount of noise produced, you can return the drive for an exchange, by contacting either your original place of purchase or our warranty department http://www.seagate.com/contact/warranty/for further assistance.

Regards,

Alan M.
Seagate Technical Support

I guess what Alan M is trying to tell me is to run the diagnostic program (seatools). I guess that means I'm going to have to install windows.