I/O Device Error

[marezt]

Hi!
I have a problem with my external hard drive!
When I try to copy files from my computer to the drive it starts to copy but after a couple of seconds it stops and it reports an error "cannot copy the file.......I/O device error!" or cannot copy the file...The path is too deep!"
But I can open files or watch movies from the drive without a problem!

 

[hang-the-9]

The drive may still contain issues, Windows blocks off bad sections of the drive to enable a bad drive to function for a while. It's good to keep your drive running, but bad as it tends to hid issues from the user till it's too late.

First thing, do a backup of your files as much as you can. If it tells you the path is too long, try selecting the folder containing the file where the error occurs and rename it to a shorter name. You may need to go a few levels of folders in and do that to them as well. The file path can't exceed 256 characters, but it can end up that way in some cases. So a really long file name, combined with a bunch of subfolders will cause this issue.