How to: Fix Windows 10 External Hard Drive Keeps Disconnecting

Here we can see, “How to: Fix Windows 10 External Hard Drive Keeps Disconnecting”

• External hard drives are a great method to increase the storage capacity of your PC without having to open it up and replace the internal hard disk.
• These external hard drives don’t have to be HDDs; external SSDs exist as well, and they’re just as speedy as their internal counterparts.
• Windows 10 bugs continue to annoy users, and it now appears that owners of external hard drives are now afflicted. We report the issues and attempt to provide remedies as well.
• We just finished talking about how Windows 10’s WiFi keeps disconnecting, and now people are reporting issues with their external hard drives:

So, I downloaded and installed Windows 8.1 x64 from the Windows Store yesterday, and now my QB-35US3 hard drives start disconnecting and reconnecting at odd intervals. Before the upgrade, I had no issues. USB 3.0 is used to connect the bay.

This is what one disgruntled user has to say. Also, the problem appears to be the same with USB hubs — the errors are the same as with external hard drives, according to what I’ve read:

My four USB external hard drives disconnect and reconnect every few minutes after upgrading from Windows 8 to 8.1. When a disk is idle, Windows disconnects it, and Windows reconnects/wakes it up when I need it. This is giving me many problems, and I’ve already deactivated this option in 8.1’s power management settings, but the problem persists. I can’t pause a video for more than a few seconds without Windows disconnecting the HDD. I have 16 TB of data and am concerned that this foolish feature may cause my disks to fail.

Another harrowing account from another afflicted user. We just published a guide on fixing slow USB 3.0 problems on Windows 10.

You can go there and follow the steps there or try this Microsoft Windows USB Core Team Blog article.

There are a variety of issues that might arise with an external hard drive, and we’ll cover them all in this article:

• When transferring or copying, the external hard drive disconnects
  • Many users have claimed that their external hard drive keeps disconnecting when uploading or copying files.
  • This might be a frustrating issue, but one of our solutions should be able to help you solve it.
• Disconnecting a Seagate external hard disk
  • Seagate external drives are also affected by this problem.
  • We’ve already written an article regarding Seagate hard disk problems, so take a look.
• Randomly disconnecting the external hard drive
  • This issue appears to occur at random, according to many users.
  • Because your hard disk may detach during the file transfer, this can be a major issue.
• Disconnecting a verbatim external hard drive
  • This problem also affects Verbatim hard drives.
  • If you’re having trouble with your Verbatim hard drive, give one of our solutions a shot.
• A portable hard drive You do not currently have authority to conduct this action, and you will require permission to do so. Access is restricted
  • When using your external hard disk, you may see an error message about permissions.
  • If you’re having trouble with the Access is denied error message, be sure to check out one of our older posts.
• You must format the external hard drive
  • You may receive this error message when trying to access your hard drive.
  • If you wish to use your hard drive again, you’ll need to reformat it in most circumstances.
• The external hard disk is not accessible, does not appear, does not function, is not recognized, is not accessible, and has not been initialized
  • Several issues might arise with your hard drive.
  • Many people have claimed that their hard disk is inaccessible; however you may resolve this and other issues by implementing one of our solutions.
• The external hard drive continues to load and then freezes
  • A small number of consumers have complained that their external hard disk just refuses to load or freezes.
  • Your computer setting is most likely the blame, but it’s a simple repair.
• The external hard drive is quite slow
  • Another issue that can arise with your hard disk is this.
  • If your hard drive is slow, connect it to a USB 3.0 port and ensure all of your drivers are up to current.

What should I do if my external hard drive continues to disconnect?

1. Use a separate USB port to connect your hard disk

On their Windows 10 PC, many users have claimed that their external hard drive keeps disconnecting. However, by connecting your disk to a new USB port, you may be able to resolve the problem.

Users claim that this problem only happens when the drive is attached to a certain USB port. If you attach it to a different USB port, the problem should disappear.

If your computer has both USB 3.0 and 2.0 connections, try connecting your hard drive to a USB 2.0 port to see if that works.

Some devices have issues with USB 3.0 however, by connecting your device to a USB 2.0 port, you can prevent most USB 3.0 troubles. Keep in mind that utilizing USB 2.0 will reduce transfer speeds, but your hard disk will not disconnect.

2. Disable USB Selective Suspension

1. Enter control panel by pressing Windows Key + S.
2. From the list of options, choose Control Panel.
3. Go to Power Options when the Control Panel appears.
4. The Power Options window will appear now.
5. Change plan settings can be found by finding your power plan and clicking on it.
6. Change advanced power settings by clicking on them.
7. Set the USB selective suspend setting to Disabled in the USB settings.
8. To save your changes, click Apply and OK.

The power-saving option may be causing your external hard disk to detach. To save power, your PC may be set to switch off USB devices after a period of time.

After that, your PC will not turn off your USB devices to save power, and you will no longer have troubles with your external hard drive. This method has been reported to work for many users therefore we strongly advise you to give it a try.

3. Download and install the USB 3.0 controller drivers

If your external hard drive keeps disconnecting, the issue could be a driver issue. However, you may easily resolve this issue by updating your USB 3.0 controller’s drivers.

The best way to do this is to go to your motherboard manufacturer’s website and get the most recent chipset drivers. You can also manually update this driver if you like.

We also strongly advise you to use third-party software to download all of your PC’s outdated drivers automatically. This program will keep your PC safe because you can manually download and install the erroneous driver version.

The system does not correctly update the generic drivers for your PC’s hardware and peripherals most of the time.

A generic driver and a manufacturer’s driver have significant variances.

Several customers reported troubles with Microsoft’s USB 3.0 controller driver, but the issue was totally cured when using a driver from a different manufacturer.

4. Prevent your computer from turning off your mass storage device

1. Make sure your external hard drive is plugged into your computer.
2. Open the Device Manager program.
3. To do so quickly, press Windows Key + X to activate the Win + X menu, then select Device Manager from the drop-down menu.
4. Double-click on USB Mass Storage Device in the Universal Serial Bus Controller section.
5. Keep in mind that your PC may refer to your external hard drive by a different name.
6. Uncheck the box on the Power Management tab. To save electricity, tick the Allow the computer to turn off this device checkbox.
7. To save your changes, click the OK button.

If your hard drive continues disconnecting, simply prevent the PC from turning off Mass Storage Device to solve the problem. Your PC will automatically turn off several devices, including your external hard drive, to preserve energy.

You’ll need to alter a few settings in Device Manager to prevent this from happening. After that, your PC will no longer turn off your external hard drive, and the problem will be resolved.

5. In the BIOS, disable USB legacy support

1. Double-click your external hard disk in Device Manager to open it.
2. Select a Better performance from the Policies tab.
3. Check the box next to Enable write caching on this device.
4. To save your changes, click OK.
5. Finally, go to Device Manager and delete the Intel USB 3.0 extension driver.

If your PC has both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports, you may be able to resolve the issue by deactivating USB legacy support in the BIOS. However, we strongly urge you to consult your motherboard manual for complete advice on doing so.

Several customers indicate that you must take some extra measures to resolve this issue. First, you’ll need to make a few modifications in Device Manager to fix the problem. After that, restart your computer, and the problem should be resolved.

6. Make use of KeepAliveHD

Due to inactivity, several consumers have claimed that their external hard drive keeps disconnecting. This is standard behaviour for external hard drives, but if you wish to avoid it, you might want to try using this program.

KeepAliveHD is a little freeware program that writes a small file to your external hard drive to keep it from sleeping. You can set a timer for the application to regularly write a small file to your hard drive.

This is a basic approach, and if you don’t want to change the settings of your system, you should use it.

Conclusion

I hope you found this guide useful. If you’ve got any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to use the shape below.

User Questions:

1. Why does my external hard drive constantly crashing?

1. Turn off the USB power saving feature.
2. If your external hard drive keeps disconnecting, the power-saving option may be at blame. Windows has a USB selective suspend capability that saves electricity by turning off USB devices after a period of time. This feature is meant to keep your computer from consuming too much power.

2. Why is USB 3.0 constantly disconnecting?

Faulty USB drivers could be the blame for this problem. You may fix it by uninstalling and reinstalling your USB drivers. To begin, hit Windows Key + X and then choose Device Manager. Expand the section on Universal Serial Bus controllers.

3. What’s the deal with my USB connecting and disconnecting all the time?

It’s possible that your USB device is broken, or that the USB port into which you’re plugging your gadgets is malfunctioning. To rule out this possibility, do the following: Use a different computer to connect your USB devices. If it works on the other computer, your computer (rather than the USB device) is most likely to blame.

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