External Hard Drive I/O Error Occurs: Your Actions

In this article you will find out:

• how to deal with this issue

• how to protect your data

Are you ready? Let's read!

About this error

An I/O device error prevents Windows from reading or writing to its contents. This can apply to both HDD or SSD, an external hard drive, SD card, USB storage, CD/DVD, etc. You cannot transfer computer data to and from an external device and also at the same time on the monitor screen when the error "The request cannot be executed due to an I/O device error" appears, error code 105. The reasons for this problem are quite serious, such as:

• mechanical or logical damage to the hard drive,

• damage to the file system or its incompatibility with the computer,

• outdated computer device drivers,

• incompatibility of the Windows transfer mode with the hard disk.

However, this problem can still be corrected if you know the appropriate solutions. Therefore, carefully study this article and you will be armed and more likely to get rid of the i/o device error.

External Hard Drive I/O Error: fix

It is most practical if you will be recovering damaged or lost files using good professional software. It's safe and secure with DiskInternals Partition Recovery

The program that has been helping users for over 15 years to recover photos, images, music, videos, documents, etc. that have disappeared for any reason.

DiskInternals Partition Recovery has two types of scans - fast and full; it all depends on your preferences. In addition, there is a mode for reading inaccessible files. You can also use the free option - create a disk image and be 100% protected from any unforeseen situations.

This application is equipped with a convenient, professional and simple built-in recovery wizard. If you are doing it for the first time and it seems that you will not be able to cope with this task, you simply activate the wizard and think about nothing else.

Before spending money and buying a license, download and use the free, fully functional trial version of DiskInternals Partition Recovery. Only after you have made sure that all the information has been recovered with high quality and accuracy, you can purchase a license agreement and export absolutely all recovered files to another medium.

In addition, the license includes 24/7 customer support throughout the year - so when you lose data, you will always have someone to rely on!

Check connections

First of all, check the cable that is used to connect the external hard drive to the PC. It must be free of any damage and properly connected. Otherwise, use a spare cable and test it with a different USB port.

If that doesn't fix the hard drive i/o error, then move on to another method.

Change system preferences

Windows will not be able to transfer data between the PC and the external drive if the drive transfer mode is not correct. You can fix this as follows:

In the search box, enter "Computer Management", then click "Device Manager" in the left pane. Expand IDE ATA / ATAPI Controllers to see the IDE ATA / ATAPI channels for your PC. Select the channel to which the external drive is connected. Right-click and click on the "Properties" button. Next, on the "Advanced Settings" tab, select the "PIO Only" option in the "Transfer Mode" field. Save changes and check external hard drives with I/O error.

You should now restart your computer so that the system can detect the changes that have been made. After that, your external hard drive will start working properly.