Why Does My External Drive Keep Disconnecting?
Published: 2026年8月17日
Pulling live prices…
Live data across PricePerGig listings. Prices may change; Updated every few hours.
📊 As of October 23, 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.com is $115/TB or $0.115/GB across the 6,031 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $36.7/TB or $0.037/GB. The best deals on Amazon.com start from about $294 for 8TB ($36.8/TB), $360 for 14TB ($25.7/TB) and $640 for 20TB ($32/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly $25.7 per TB.
📊 As of October 23, 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.com is $107/TB or $0.107/GB across the 11,238 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $43.9/TB or $0.044/GB. The best deals on eBay.com start from about $180 for 8TB ($22.5/TB), $292 for 14TB ($20.9/TB) and $575 for 20TB ($28.7/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly $20.9 per TB.
📊 As of October 23, 2026, the typical HDD on Newegg.com is $98.8/TB or $0.099/GB across the 1,210 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $55.7/TB or $0.056/GB. The best deals on Newegg.com start from about $322 for 8TB ($40.3/TB), $590 for 14TB ($42.1/TB) and $799 for 20TB ($40/TB). The current best value is 16TB at roughly $37.5 per TB.
📊 As of 23 October 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.co.uk is £139/TB or £0.139/GB across the 3,231 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around £57.3/TB or £0.057/GB. The best deals on Amazon.co.uk start from about £300 for 8TB (£37.5/TB), £341 for 14TB (£24.4/TB) and £715 for 20TB (£35.8/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly £24.4 per TB.
📊 As of 23 October 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.co.uk is £87/TB or £0.087/GB across the 10,914 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around £27.2/TB or £0.027/GB. The best deals on eBay.co.uk start from about £200 for 8TB (£25/TB), £294 for 14TB (£21/TB) and £600 for 20TB (£30/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly £21 per TB.
📊 As of 23 October 2026, the typical HDD on Overclockers.co.uk is £46.7/TB or £0.047/GB across the 46 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around £43.4/TB or £0.043/GB. The best deals on Overclockers.co.uk start from about £105 for 2TB (£52.5/TB), £180 for 6TB (£30/TB) and £280 for 8TB (£35/TB). The current best value is 6TB at roughly £30 per TB.
📊 As of 23 October 2026, the typical HDD on Box.co.uk is £53.1/TB or £0.053/GB across the 88 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around £44.1/TB or £0.044/GB. The best deals on Box.co.uk start from about £108 for 2TB (£53.8/TB), £227 for 6TB (£37.9/TB) and £480 for 12TB (£40/TB). The current best value is 6TB at roughly £37.9 per TB.
📊 As of 23. Oktober 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.de is 176 €/TB or 0,176 €/GB across the 3,267 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 46,3 €/TB or 0,046 €/GB. The best deals on Amazon.de start from about 349 € for 8TB (43,6 €/TB), 419 € for 14TB (29,9 €/TB) and 639 € for 20TB (32 €/TB). The current best value is 18TB at roughly 27,8 € per TB.
📊 As of 23. Oktober 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.de is 88,7 €/TB or 0,089 €/GB across the 17,172 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 92,1 €/TB or 0,092 €/GB. The best deals on eBay.de start from about 229 € for 8TB (28,6 €/TB), 329 € for 14TB (23,5 €/TB) and 474 € for 20TB (23,7 €/TB). The current best value is 18TB at roughly 22,2 € per TB.
📊 As of 23. Oktober 2026, the typical HDD on getgoods.de is 67,7 €/TB or 0,068 €/GB across the 87 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 53,7 €/TB or 0,054 €/GB. The best deals on getgoods.de start from about 124 € for 2TB (61,9 €/TB), 201 € for 4TB (50,2 €/TB) and 264 € for 8TB (33,1 €/TB). The current best value is 8TB at roughly 33,1 € per TB.
📊 As of 23. Oktober 2026, the typical HDD on Alternate.de is 60,9 €/TB or 0,061 €/GB across the 138 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 52,1 €/TB or 0,052 €/GB. The best deals on Alternate.de start from about 309 € for 8TB (38,6 €/TB), 410 € for 12TB (34,2 €/TB) and 602 € for 20TB (30,1 €/TB). The current best value is 20TB at roughly 30,1 € per TB.
📊 As of 23 October 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.com.au is $151/TB or $0.151/GB across the 4,319 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $94.1/TB or $0.094/GB. The best deals on eBay.com.au start from about $565 for 8TB ($70.6/TB), $929 for 14TB ($66.4/TB) and $1,099 for 20TB ($55/TB). The current best value is 20TB at roughly $55 per TB.
📊 As of 23 octobre 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.fr is 199 €/TB or 0,199 €/GB across the 1,436 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 89,2 €/TB or 0,089 €/GB. The best deals on Amazon.fr start from about 378 € for 8TB (47,3 €/TB), 596 € for 14TB (42,5 €/TB) and 805 € for 20TB (40,2 €/TB). The current best value is 10TB at roughly 33,1 € per TB.
📊 As of 23 de octubre de 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.es is 159 €/TB or 0,159 €/GB across the 2,583 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 46,4 €/TB or 0,046 €/GB. The best deals on Amazon.es start from about 324 € for 8TB (40,5 €/TB), 455 € for 14TB (32,5 €/TB) and 724 € for 20TB (36,2 €/TB). The current best value is 16TB at roughly 30,1 € per TB.
📊 As of October 23, 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.ca is $224/TB or $0.224/GB across the 1,969 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $66.1/TB or $0.066/GB. The best deals on Amazon.ca start from about $465 for 8TB ($58.1/TB), $594 for 14TB ($42.4/TB) and $1,000 for 20TB ($50/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly $42.4 per TB.
📊 As of October 23, 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.ca is $422/TB or $0.422/GB across the 1,336 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $42.9/TB or $0.043/GB. The best deals on eBay.ca start from about $180 for 8TB ($22.5/TB), $320 for 12TB ($26.7/TB) and $999 for 18TB ($55.5/TB). The current best value is 8TB at roughly $22.5 per TB.
📊 As of October 23, 2026, the typical HDD on Newegg.ca is $143/TB or $0.143/GB across the 447 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $65.9/TB or $0.066/GB. The best deals on Newegg.ca start from about $420 for 8TB ($52.5/TB), $725 for 14TB ($51.8/TB) and $1,042 for 20TB ($52.1/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly $51.8 per TB.
📊 As of 23 oktober 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.nl is € 108/TB or € 0,108/GB across the 1,700 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around € 51,6/TB or € 0,052/GB. The best deals on Amazon.nl start from about € 327 for 8TB (€ 40,9/TB), € 525 for 14TB (€ 37,5/TB) and € 725 for 20TB (€ 36,3/TB). The current best value is 16TB at roughly € 31,6 per TB.
📊 As of 23 ottobre 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.it is 184 €/TB or 0,184 €/GB across the 3,396 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 49 €/TB or 0,049 €/GB. The best deals on Amazon.it start from about 337 € for 8TB (42,1 €/TB), 520 € for 14TB (37,1 €/TB) and 750 € for 20TB (37,5 €/TB). The current best value is 16TB at roughly 35,2 € per TB.
📊 As of 23 ottobre 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.it is 94,8 €/TB or 0,095 €/GB across the 12,496 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 92,6 €/TB or 0,093 €/GB. The best deals on eBay.it start from about 200 € for 8TB (25 €/TB), 310 € for 14TB (22,1 €/TB) and 470 € for 20TB (23,5 €/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly 22,1 € per TB.
📊 As of 23 oktober 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.se is 1 546 kr/TB or 1,546 kr/GB across the 994 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 784 kr/TB or 0,784 kr/GB. The best deals on Amazon.se start from about 1 175 kr for 2TB (591 kr/TB), 1 580 kr for 4TB (395 kr/TB) and 2 339 kr for 6TB (390 kr/TB). The current best value is 6TB at roughly 390 kr per TB.
📊 As of 23 października 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.pl is 606 zł/TB or 0,606 zł/GB across the 1,120 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 276 zł/TB or 0,276 zł/GB. The best deals on Amazon.pl start from about 1388 zł for 8TB (173 zł/TB), 1324 zł for 10TB (132 zł/TB) and 2214 zł for 14TB (158 zł/TB). The current best value is 10TB at roughly 132 zł per TB.
Sourced from real discussions on r/techsupport and r/DataHoarder, cross-checked against live PricePerGig listings.
External drive vanishing mid-copy, then reappearing, then dropping again? Maddening. Let me help you track down why, because it is usually a simple fix.
Most of the time it is not the drive failing. It is power, a cable, or a sleep setting.
Work through these in order and you will almost certainly solve it.
The table above shows the live price per TB on your marketplace, just in case the drive really is on its way out.
First suspect: the cable and port
This is the most common cause, and the easiest to test.
USB cables wear out, work loose, or were never great to begin with. Ports vary in quality and power too.
So try this first.
- Swap the USB cable for a different, good quality one.
- Plug into a different port, ideally one directly on the computer rather than a hub.
- If you use a USB hub, try without it. Hubs often cannot supply steady power to a drive.
A huge share of disconnecting drives are cured right here. Cheap fix, big win.
Second suspect: power saving
If cables and ports do not fix it, look at sleep settings.
Computers love to save power by putting USB devices to sleep. The trouble is, a drive that gets sent to sleep mid-task can drop the connection and look like it disconnected.
The fix is to turn off USB power saving, sometimes called selective suspend, so the system stops nodding the drive off. On a laptop, also check that the drive is not losing power when the lid setting kicks in.
This solves a lot of the cases that survive the cable swap.
Third suspect: not enough power
Bigger drives, especially desktop ones, are hungry.
A drive drawing more power than the port can supply will brown out and drop off, particularly through a hub or a weak laptop port.
- Use a port directly on the computer.
- If the drive has its own power adapter, make sure it is plugged in and working.
- Avoid daisy chaining through unpowered hubs.
Give the drive clean, steady power and the random drops often stop.
When it might actually be the drive
If you have tried different cables, ports, and power settings, on more than one computer, and it still drops out, then look harder at the drive.
Check its SMART health. If the numbers look bad, or it makes odd noises, the drive itself may be failing.
At that point, back up anything important right away and plan a replacement using the live prices above.
The bottom line
A constantly disconnecting external drive is usually a cable, port, or power saving problem, not a dying drive. Swap the cable, change the port, skip the hub, and turn off USB power saving.
If it still drops out everywhere after all that, check the drive’s health and replace it if needed. Grab a reliable replacement from the live prices above, and enjoy a drive that actually stays connectd.
