Can a USB port go bad all of a sudden? External HDD issue.

[TacoOcat]

I have a 1TB USB Seagate HDD I use for backup. When I plugged it into my computer, I could hear a faint beep coming from inside the computer. It had never done this before. When I tried to copy some files from the drive to the computer, it just got stuck and the same beeping from before sounded. After cancelling the copying, the drive disappeared from showing on the computer and its light kept constantly flashing.

I then unplugged it and plugged it into a different adjacent USB port and there was no issues. I was able to copy the files and everything seems fine with the drive and computer.

Did the USB port just decide to go bad or something? Can this cause any problems in the long-term?

It is a 3.0 USB drive that uses the USB port for power as well. I have only USB 2.0 and 1.1 ports on my computer. I thought perhaps I plugged it into a 1.1 port (I cannot tell what speed each port is), and it just was not getting enough power, but I thought I usually plug it into that specific one. But then again it has been a while since I last used it.

 

[samuria]

I assume you have installed usb3 drivers as it not native to 7 check for driver updates

 

[Megahertz07]

If I understood well, the Seagate HDD drive is USB 3.0 but you have only USB 2.0 and 1.1 ports on the computer. In this case the drive will work as USB 2.0 or 1.1 depending to witch port it is connected. No USB 3.x drivers are needed.
I would say that it can be a bad terminal contact on the computer USB port.