PROBLEMS ACCESSING EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE

[Lindsay Graham]

I'm using Win XP Home and am having inexplicable (and intermittent) problems
accessing some folders in some partitions of an external hard drive. The
problems commenced very recently -- when trying to access a folder using
Windows Explorer, the error message is "G:\... is not accessible. The
request could not be performed because of an I/O device error". Sometimes
(but not always) the problem goes away when I share that folder (even though
the parent folder and the partition drive were already shared). Sometimes
(but not always) the problem goes away when next I try to access that folder
(having done nothing in the meantime).

Any ideas on what might be causing this, and how to fix it? Any help will
be greatly appreciated.

 

[Terry]

On 5/15/2007 9:53 PM On a whim, Lindsay Graham pounded out on the keyboard

I'm using Win XP Home and am having inexplicable (and intermittent) problems
accessing some folders in some partitions of an external hard drive. The
problems commenced very recently -- when trying to access a folder using
Windows Explorer, the error message is "G:\... is not accessible. The
request could not be performed because of an I/O device error". Sometimes
(but not always) the problem goes away when I share that folder (even though
the parent folder and the partition drive were already shared). Sometimes
(but not always) the problem goes away when next I try to access that folder
(having done nothing in the meantime).

Any ideas on what might be causing this, and how to fix it? Any help will
be greatly appreciated.

Hi Lindsay,

Many things could be going on. Bad USB connectors on the computer (try
different port) or external drive (can't do anything but change out the
enclosure), bad USB cable, corrupt USB drivers, failing hard drive. I
live near the ocean and corrosion can cause bad connections causing
intermittent problems.

Check those things out and report back,

--
Terry

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[Lindsay Graham]

Thanks a heap, Terry. Your very first suggestion proved to be right on the
money. There's a problem of some sort with one USB port -- fortunately
there are 3 others, and switching ports resolved all the problems. I had
just assumed that it was a software problem, and a hardware fault had not
occurred to me. I'm using a laptop which is now over 4.5 years old, so it's
not worth getting the hardware problem fixed -- maybe a new laptop soon <g>.

Thanks again, Terry.

 

[Terry]

On 5/17/2007 3:30 AM On a whim, Lindsay Graham pounded out on the keyboard

Thanks a heap, Terry. Your very first suggestion proved to be right on the
money. There's a problem of some sort with one USB port -- fortunately
there are 3 others, and switching ports resolved all the problems. I had
just assumed that it was a software problem, and a hardware fault had not
occurred to me. I'm using a laptop which is now over 4.5 years old, so it's
not worth getting the hardware problem fixed -- maybe a new laptop soon <g>.

Thanks again, Terry.

Maybe THAT's why we're given so many ports, because they get screwed up
easily! Glad to hear it was an easy fix.

Take care Lindsay,

--
Terry

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