New
#1
Hard drive malfunction? USB port malfunction? Or just normal?
I recently purchased an HP ProBook 450 G3. I am using two passport compact 1 TB drives with my laptop's two USB 3.0 ports. In normal use there is no problem. However, when I copy a lot of data from one to the other (or from one to the laptop's internal drive) the drives keep disconnecting. I know this because first I will get a copying error saying either the source or the destination is missing. Then I will hear the "chime" that Windows makes when a USB device connects or disconnects. Then the autoplay window for the Passport drive will appear. It seems that it spontaneously disconnects and then reconnects. I can continue using it for a time afterward, but it always spontaneously disconnects at some point, always when I am doing large data transfers.
I wondered if I have a poor physical connection---the USB plugs seem a bit loose. I checked if there is any vibration or movement that could break the connection, but so far there is no evidence that anything is moving. The disconnection always happens when a lot of data is being transferred, while the drives are sitting completely still.
Any ideas how to debug this?