My external hard drive suddenly stopped handling new downloads correctly. I have several games installed on it, and they still launch and play normally, but attempts to download or install another game fail. The drive shows about 300 GB of free space. It isn't displaying an obvious error message, so I'm not sure whether this is a drive failure, a connection issue, or something else. What should I check first?
3 Answers
Since this is an external drive and there’s no clear error, also check the USB cable, port, and power connection. Try a different cable and plug it directly into the computer rather than through a hub. Windows may also be reporting a file-system problem even when the game itself still runs, so checking the drive in Disk Management and running an error scan could help.
Being able to play installed games only proves that the computer can read those files. Downloading requires sustained writing, so the different behavior doesn’t rule out a failing drive. Copy your important files elsewhere first, then test whether you can create and copy a small file to the drive; if that fails too, replace the drive rather than trusting it with more data.
A drive can sometimes continue reading existing files while failing or refusing new writes, especially if it detects developing hardware problems. If the drive is older or has been dropped, back up anything important immediately and check its health with a SMART or disk-diagnostic tool. Avoid repeatedly trying downloads until your data is safe.
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