Hello all,

I am trying to copy some files from an external hard drive to another drive. At first I have to wait for a while as it says "Preparing to copy..." and then it copies very slowly. After copying a few(different number every time I try) files, it gives me the following message:
"Cannot copy file: Cannot read from the source file or disk."

I have also received the following message a few times while trying to copy:
"Cannot Copy [filename]: The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error."

I am receiving these errors when I either copy to an internal Hard Drive or external Hard Drive.

I ran a check disk, and it came back with the following message "Windows was unable to complete the disk check."

I am very confused as I can access the files on the external drive, but it runs slowly as I try to open or navigate through the external drive. Also, I am confused, because it lets me copy some of the files, but then at some point gives me a error message.

What can I do to copy files from the external hard drive?

I hope you can help me as I have some very important files on the external drive, which I ofcourse didn't backup. Also, please let me know if there are other options available to me such as recovery services or recovery programs if I cannot solve it on my own with your help.

Thank you in advance!!!

Could it be a memory problem? Try closing every program/task already running on your PC before you run the copy command again.

No, that's not the problem, because I can copy files from another drive to other drives and it runs at normal speed.

Well, I only suggested that because I faced the same problem when copying some large files to/from a DVDRAM. Of course copying files from/to other drives already in my PC is always successful.

When you say "to other drives" what do you mean? Other external drives? Is this on a Windows XP machine? Maybe someone else can offer a suggestion.

Yes, I meant when copying from other external drives to any other drive(external or internal) it is fast, but it runs slow only when copying from that one external drive. Yes, I am running Windows XP.

Upon putting my external drive into a USB port on the back of the computer, I noticed it's ALOT faster than the USB port in the front of the computer where I had it plugged in so far. It also copies correctly now with no error messages. I now see that BOTH of my front USB ports are not working correctly and the error messages were due to that.

How can I fix the front USB ports so they work correctly?

I would check at the web site of my motherboard (manufacturer) for a fix/patch. Maybe it is a known problem.

Sometimes the front ports are USB 1.1 while the ones in back are USB 2.0. It doesn't happen often and I don't know why a manufacturer may do it. I only remember reading about it a while back but figured it wasn't done anymore.

I suspect that, because the rear ports are built into the mother board, it's easier to do it. The ones on the front of the case are connected via small wires to the motherboard, so they can be of a different quality. Perhaps the manufacturer of the case saved a few bucks by using the slower USB.

As the admin suggested, there may be a patch to fix it. Alternatively, you may look at getting a new case or simply buying a USB 2.0 hub and run it to the ports in the back. That way you don't have to worry about using the case ports.