Perform a Clean Boot on your Windows.

What is the I/O Device Error?

The error message “The Request Could Not be Performed Because of an I/O Device Error” is a common error message that we might encounter when we try to access the data from our USB flash drives, External Hard drives, CDs, or any other external storage devices. This I/O basically (Input/Output ) Error is generally caused when the external drive is corrupted or may not be plugged correctly. Rather than this error message you might also face error messages like “Only part of a ReadProcessMemory or WriteProcessMemory request was completed” or ” I/O Error codes: error 6, error 21″....

What are the Causes of the I/O Device Error?

Outdated Device Drivers: The device drivers you are using might be outdated which causes this error as the external device is not supported by them. Corrupted Data: The data you are trying to access from the external device might be corrupted or tampered with. with Virus or Malware: Your system might be affected by a virus or malware that is causing this error. Hardware Conflicts: The external ports might be damaged in your system into which you have plugged your external device like USB ports. Insufficient Permission: The user may not have permission to access the data from the external drive. Try to access it as an administrator. Loose Connection: This is a very silly cause still this can be the cause of this error. You might have not plugged the external drive correctly into your PC. Double-check the connection....

Method 1: Update the Device Drivers

The most common cause of this I/O device error is outdated or unsupported device drivers. We can get the latest version of the device drivers to fix this error. Follow the below steps to update the device drivers:...

Method 2: Use the Check Disk Utility

If the above method didn’t solve your issue then the issue might be on your external drive’s end. To fix the corrupted external drive we can use the Window’s built-in utility called Check Disk which scans your drive for errors and fix them directly. Follow the below steps to use the check disk utility....

Method 3: Use the Diskpart Utility.

The diskpart is also a built-in Utility to manage disks, external drives, partitions, and volumes. We can clean our corrupted drive using the diskpart utility to fix the I/O device error. Follow the below steps to use the diskpart utility....

Method 4: Change the File system of your External Device

There are many cases when you are trying to access data from an external drive like a USB flash drive whose file system mode is not supported by your system. For example, your system supports FAT-32 format but the external drive is set using the NTFS format. So to fix this error we must ensure that the correct format of the file system has been assigned to your external drive. Follow the below steps to assign the right file system for your external drive....

Method 5: Change the Data Transfer Mode of your IDE Controllers.

In a few cases, windows might use the data transfer mode which is not supported by your external drives. To fix this we can enable the DMA mode of our IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. To enable the DMA mode follow the below procedure....

Method 6: Perform a Clean Boot on your Windows.

Performing a clean boot on your Windows will help you to track any 3rd party background process that might be causing troubles on your system which results in the following error. Follow the below steps to perform a clean boot....

Method 7: Change the External Drive’s Letter.

You must have noticed that a letter like E or F is associated with your external drive. Sometimes a specific letter might be reserved by some permanent storage drive. So to fix this you can change the drive letter which is causing the I/O device error. Follow the below-mentioned steps to change the Drive’s letter....

Method 8: Check for Malware or Viruses

In some cases, your external drive might be corrupted or damaged by malware which can be the cause for the I/O device error. To fix this we can use Windows Defender to scan for viruses or malware and get rid of them....

Method 9: Check Hardware Connections

If the above 3 methods didn’t fix your issue then it seems that the issue is from the hardware end, try these common fixing methods which might help you....

Conclusion

As we have seen in this article this error is generally caused due to faults in the external drives. Make sure that the external drive you are using is working perfectly. We hope that the methods we have provided in this article will help you to resolve your issue. If none of the methods resolved your issue then it indicates that the issue is related to the hardware. We would recommend you contact your technician to resolve the hardware-related issues....

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FAQs on I/O device Error

1. What are the causes of this I/O device error?...