Why Does My External Drive Keep Disconnecting?
Published: August 17, 2026
Pulling live prices…
Live data across PricePerGig listings. Prices may change; Updated every few hours.
📊 As of September 28, 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.com is $115/TB or $0.115/GB across the 5,912 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $36.6/TB or $0.037/GB. The best deals on Amazon.com start from about $270 for 8TB ($33.8/TB), $340 for 14TB ($24.3/TB) and $599 for 20TB ($30/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly $24.3 per TB.
📊 As of September 28, 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.com is $113/TB or $0.113/GB across the 11,060 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $95.8/TB or $0.096/GB. The best deals on eBay.com start from about $190 for 8TB ($23.7/TB), $300 for 14TB ($21.4/TB) and $520 for 20TB ($26/TB). The current best value is 10TB at roughly $19.9 per TB.
📊 As of September 28, 2026, the typical HDD on Newegg.com is $99.8/TB or $0.10/GB across the 1,135 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $42.8/TB or $0.043/GB. The best deals on Newegg.com start from about $325 for 8TB ($40.6/TB), $525 for 14TB ($37.5/TB) and $860 for 20TB ($43/TB). The current best value is 10TB at roughly $37.5 per TB.
📊 As of 28 September 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.co.uk is £153/TB or £0.153/GB across the 3,350 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around £61.6/TB or £0.062/GB. The best deals on Amazon.co.uk start from about £299 for 8TB (£37.4/TB), £367 for 14TB (£26.2/TB) and £612 for 20TB (£30.6/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly £26.2 per TB.
📊 As of 28 September 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.co.uk is £95.3/TB or £0.095/GB across the 10,593 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around £28.1/TB or £0.028/GB. The best deals on eBay.co.uk start from about £200 for 8TB (£25/TB), £256 for 14TB (£18.3/TB) and £568 for 20TB (£28.4/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly £18.3 per TB.
📊 As of 28 September 2026, the typical HDD on Box.co.uk is £53.6/TB or £0.054/GB across the 75 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 (£54/TB), £209 for 6TB (£34.8/TB) and £275 for 8TB (£34.4/TB). The current best value is 8TB at roughly £34.4 per TB.
📊 As of 28. September 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.de is 176 €/TB or 0,176 €/GB across the 2,996 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 324 € for 8TB (40,5 €/TB), 400 € for 14TB (28,6 €/TB) and 600 € for 20TB (30 €/TB). The current best value is 16TB at roughly 28,1 € per TB.
📊 As of 28. September 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.de is 89,2 €/TB or 0,089 €/GB across the 16,290 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 99,4 €/TB or 0,099 €/GB. The best deals on eBay.de start from about 237 € for 8TB (29,7 €/TB), 299 € for 14TB (21,4 €/TB) and 530 € for 20TB (26,5 €/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly 21,4 € per TB.
📊 As of 28. September 2026, the typical HDD on Alternate.de is 58,8 €/TB or 0,059 €/GB across the 150 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 50,7 €/TB or 0,051 €/GB. The best deals on Alternate.de start from about 276 € for 8TB (34,5 €/TB), 539 € for 12TB (44,9 €/TB) and 599 € for 16TB (37,4 €/TB). The current best value is 8TB at roughly 34,5 € per TB.
📊 As of 28 September 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.com.au is $136/TB or $0.136/GB across the 3,681 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $85.8/TB or $0.086/GB. The best deals on eBay.com.au start from about $550 for 8TB ($68.8/TB), $599 for 14TB ($42.8/TB) and $1,145 for 20TB ($57.3/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly $42.8 per TB.
📊 As of 28 septembre 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.fr is 196 €/TB or 0,196 €/GB across the 1,526 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 103 €/TB or 0,103 €/GB. The best deals on Amazon.fr start from about 352 € for 8TB (44 €/TB), 596 € for 14TB (42,5 €/TB) and 789 € for 20TB (39,5 €/TB). The current best value is 16TB at roughly 28,7 € per TB.
📊 As of 28 de septiembre de 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.es is 163 €/TB or 0,163 €/GB across the 2,320 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 46,5 €/TB or 0,047 €/GB. The best deals on Amazon.es start from about 326 € for 8TB (40,7 €/TB), 525 € for 14TB (37,5 €/TB) and 750 € for 20TB (37,5 €/TB). The current best value is 16TB at roughly 28,7 € per TB.
📊 As of September 28, 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.ca is $209/TB or $0.209/GB across the 1,974 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $62.1/TB or $0.062/GB. The best deals on Amazon.ca start from about $441 for 8TB ($55.1/TB), $567 for 14TB ($40.5/TB) and $947 for 20TB ($47.3/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly $40.5 per TB.
📊 As of September 28, 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.ca is $407/TB or $0.407/GB across the 1,300 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around $43.3/TB or $0.043/GB. The best deals on eBay.ca start from about $200 for 8TB ($25/TB), $390 for 14TB ($27.9/TB) and $475 for 20TB ($23.7/TB). The current best value is 20TB at roughly $23.7 per TB.
📊 As of September 28, 2026, the typical HDD on Newegg.ca is $144/TB or $0.144/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 28 september 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.nl is € 108/TB or € 0,108/GB across the 1,650 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 € 281 for 8TB (€ 35,1/TB), € 491 for 14TB (€ 35/TB) and € 559 for 20TB (€ 28/TB). The current best value is 20TB at roughly € 28 per TB.
📊 As of 28 settembre 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.it is 179 €/TB or 0,179 €/GB across the 3,394 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 48,9 €/TB or 0,049 €/GB. The best deals on Amazon.it start from about 328 € for 8TB (41 €/TB), 500 € for 14TB (35,7 €/TB) and 756 € for 20TB (37,8 €/TB). The current best value is 16TB at roughly 30 € per TB.
📊 As of 28 settembre 2026, the typical HDD on eBay.it is 93,6 €/TB or 0,094 €/GB across the 7,028 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 255 € for 8TB (31,9 €/TB), 290 € for 14TB (20,7 €/TB) and 455 € for 18TB (25,3 €/TB). The current best value is 14TB at roughly 20,7 € per TB.
📊 As of 28 september 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.se is 1 559 kr/TB or 1,559 kr/GB across the 930 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 793 kr/TB or 0,793 kr/GB. The best deals on Amazon.se start from about 1 111 kr for 2TB (556 kr/TB), 1 771 kr for 4TB (443 kr/TB) and 1 500 kr for 6TB (250 kr/TB). The current best value is 6TB at roughly 250 kr per TB.
📊 As of 28 września 2026, the typical HDD on Amazon.pl is 609 zł/TB or 0,609 zł/GB across the 1,051 live listings we track, with the widest choice of drives priced around 286 zł/TB or 0,286 zł/GB. The best deals on Amazon.pl start from about 1188 zł for 8TB (148 zł/TB), 172 zł for 10TB (17,2 zł/TB) and 2214 zł for 14TB (158 zł/TB). The current best value is 10TB at roughly 17,2 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.
