External hard drive disconnecting

[Absolute_Zero]

At first, when I play tf2, the noise for a usb device disconnecting would play. As of last week my external hard drive would disconnect when I play any steam game i installed on it.
Edit: I installed tf2 on my internal drive (it's small)

[Aemony]

Buy a new one? It sounds like you have a faulty external drive that needs replacement ASAP.

[Absolute_Zero]

I recently bought it a few months ago. My brother handles it roughly sometimes. Could that be the problem?

[Absolute_Zero]

My hard drive is:
WD - easystore® 1TB External USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive - Black

[Aemony]

Originally posted by {Absolute Zero}:

I recently bought it a few months ago. I have not dropped it that much (i think my brother has).

That doesn't sound very assuring...

External HDDs are usually made up of the HDDs of the lower end of the production; those that does not live up to the quality level necessary for the "full product." They can often fall apart earlier than regular HDDs. That said, a couple of months ago isn't that much...

It is also possible that you're hitting a USB bandwidth/transfer limitation as well. A couple of months ago I tried to nuke a bunch of HDDs using an external USB enclosure but it turned out that the massive amounts of writes my computer performed on the disk overwhelmed whatever USB transfer buffer was between the disk and the motherboard, causing it to disconnect in the way you mention. I had to plug them in as internal drives to be able to use them properly.

Sadly I don't really have anything else to recommend. If all else fails then you could dismantle the enclosure and use the 2.5'' HDD contained within as an internal SATA 3 drive, if you have the space for it. But that is an action I can only recommend that you undertake *if* and *when* all other attempts to fix it have failed.

[Absolute_Zero]

so you're saying that my hard drive isn't for gaming :(

[Absolute_Zero]

The high performance battery plan is not an option for some reason. I do have windows 10.

[Aemony]

Originally posted by {Absolute Zero}:

The high preformance battery plan is not an option for some reason. I do have windows 10.

Is this a laptop? If so, they've recently moved that option down to the battery icon in the notification area besides the clock.

[Absolute_Zero]

yes it's a laptop. Not a gaming laptop but a decent one.

[demo]

Check/change the lead on it. Also, many use a micro-usb socket and they are surface mount so very prone to failure. I`ve had a few fail that way, I usually rip out the actual drive and fit it as a sata internally.

Edit:- not saying fit it in a laptop btw, just look at the socket on the drive.

[Absolute_Zero]

My usb is slightly longer than the socket (i think). The small indent below the two square holes is visible.
Edit: nevermind it's just as long as my mouse's usb

[Absolute_Zero]

If it is a performance problem, how did this not happen in December?
Edit: i was able to play fallout 4, borderlands 2, and garry's mod just fine. Now the hard drive disconnects within the first minute of playing fallout 4.

[Absolute_Zero]

Looks like I’m buying a new hard drive