Windows 10: External hard drive disconnecting randomly

I resently bought a seagate expansion plus 4t external hard drive with the intention to download games on it and play them from there. The problem is that if I leave it going to download a game it will after a while disconnect and then reconnect leaving me with a disc write error on steam, sometimes making me have to start the download from the beginning again. I tested downloading a small game and opening it but then when the hard drive disconnects the game also just closes even though it runs just fine until then.


I have not been able to find any pattern in how and when it disconnects at it can to anywhere from a few minutes to several hours until it does from the last disconnect/I started the computer.


I have gone into the power settings and changed it to never on hard drive and disabled on the usb thingy. I have also tried going into the device manager and unchecking the computers ability to disconnect usb to have power, also to no avail.


An I looking at a hardware problem or does anyone have any other ideas? I would really appreciate some help as this is literally keeping me awake at night.

:)

 

Hard Drive randomly disconnecting


Hey guys!

It has been problem after problem with this PC and Windows 10. Now at the moment, I have had issues with my external hard drives randomly disconnecting. A few days back, both were randomly disconnecting then reconnecting while not in use. When replugging the USB, this kept giving me a Bluescreen then in the end it caused power failure where my PC couldn't keep power for more than a second or two. After taking out and putting back in the RAM, it revived it back to life and have had no such issue as yet.... untill today.

Am currently copying files over from my external to a friend external hard drive. Now my hard drive keeps randomly disconnecting then reconnecting very frequently, and it becoming very fustrating.

If anyone may have an idea what the issue is? Would be very much appreciated.

 

External hard drive disconnecting

Hi,

I realize the inconvenience caused to you regarding the external hard drive as it is disconnecting. I will certainly assist you.

Please answer the below questions to assist you better.

• What is the make and model of the external hard drive?
• Are you getting any error messages in the device manager?

Follow the below methods and check if it helps.

Connect the external hard drive and perform the following methods.

Method 1: Run the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter.

Windows 10 has a built-in troubleshooter to check and fix issues with hardware and devices. I would suggest you to run this troubleshooter to check if the issue is with the Bluetooth adapter. Refer these steps:

• Press Windows key +X, select Control panel.
• Change the view by option on the top right to Large icons.
• Click on troubleshooting and click on the view all option on the left panel.
• Run the Hardware and devices troubleshooter.
• Restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved.

Method 2: Check if you can see the device in Device Manager

• Press Windows key + X.
• Click on Device manager.
• Click on View Tab, Select Show hidden devices.
• Click on Scan for Hardware changes.
• Check if the devices show up in Device Manager in the device list.

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.

 

External Hard Drive

Hi John,

We suggest that you try the troubleshooting steps below:

• Open your External Hard Drive file in File Explorer.
• Type the name of the file you want to search on the search box and click Enter.

The file will show up in Search Results and you will be able to move it to the correct folder.

Let us know if you need further help.