How long have you taken offline backups of your important files? Once a month? or once a year? Do you regularly check those backups? Some people perform these backup checks by connecting an external drive to the computer and an I / O device error occurs. This article will show you how to fix I / O device errors without losing any files during the process.
What is an I / O device error?
Error Input / Output device is quite common error. They often appear in hardware errors such as broken cables, input or output storage devices that have errors or misconfigured drivers. Therefore, there are many ways to fix I / O device errors, most of the ways below are easy to implement.
Before starting, you should reboot the system and try again, if it still doesn't fix the problem, keep trying the following methods.
1. Cable
The first thing to do is just adjust the cable. Re-plug the cable that connects the external drive to the computer. Do this at both ends. If you are using a USB flash drive, try disconnecting and plugging it back in. If still not working, use another USB cable and connect the cable to another external device and connect to your system. If it works, you'll know this cable is good.
2. USB port
If the cable is good, but you still can't fix the problem, try another USB port. Most modern systems have multiple USB ports because many devices rely on USB connections. Also, check the USB port, if there is dirt, gently blow to remove any dirt and then try again.
3. Driver
A basic but easily overlooked error when fixing I / O errors is to update drivers on the system. Windows 10 regularly updates all drivers. But this constant upgrade problem worries many users when Microsoft releases Windows 10. In theory, a system that is constantly updating drivers is great and you will never have driver problems.
However, sometimes this continuous update system does not work. Therefore, users should use a driver update program like IOBit Driver Booster. Download and install Driver Booster (make sure to uninstall the McAfee Antivirus button), then scan the system to update the driver. You might be surprised if the program finds many expired drivers. Update the driver and retry the external hard drive.
4. Chkdsk
Although I / O device errors are mostly hardware related, you can use the system integration tool to troubleshoot. Chkdsk tool verifies and fixes file systems.
Press Windows Key + X to open the Quick Access menu, then select Command Prompt (admin). If the system doesn't use Command Prompt, replace it with PowerShell, just search in the Start Menu menu, then right-click and choose Run as administrator.
Next, enter chkdsk / f / r / x [your drive letter here] and press Enter . Scanning can take a while, especially if there are many sectors to fix.
Note, this tool will not fix some types of corrupted drives.
5. Use Speccy to check the health of the drive
If these two ways don't work, you should check the overall health of the drive using the free system specification program, Speccy. Download and install Speccy. In the left column, select Storage and scroll down to find the corresponding drive.
Below the drive specification is the SMART attribute table.
SMART stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (Automatic monitoring, diagnostic and reporting technology). Integrated hard drive monitoring system reports on various hard drive health attributes. Speccy evaluates each of the different monitoring measures. You should care about the following data:
A Google study found that within 60 days after a drive failure could not be adjusted, the drive had an average error of 39 times that of a similar hard drive without errors. Google's research also concluded that SMART ratings are useful in predicting drive errors. If you see any of the above figures showing errors (or many different errors on many indicators), you should seriously consider backing up everything and replacing the drive.
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