My external hard drive has started acting strangely. I can still launch and play several games already stored on it, but attempts to download or install a new game fail, even though the drive has about 300 GB of free space. It isn't showing a clear error message. Could the drive be failing, or is there another explanation for why it can read existing files but not write new ones?
2 Answers
Playing a game mostly involves reading files, while downloading and installing requires sustained writing and often creating lots of new files. That difference can expose a failing drive, a damaged file system, a loose USB connection, or an issue with the drive’s permissions. Try another USB port and cable, check whether the download location is definitely this drive, and run a file-system check. Make a backup first, since repair scans can put extra stress on a failing disk.
A drive can sometimes keep serving existing files while having trouble writing new data. If it’s an older external drive or has been dropped or bumped, it may be developing bad sectors or another hardware problem. Back up anything important immediately and check its health with a disk diagnostic tool before relying on it further.
It hasn’t shown a specific error, and I should have mentioned that it’s an external drive.