The sleep thing sounds possible, so thank you Scott and Dave. I've looked under energy saver and see a spot for putting "the hard disk(s)" to sleep when possible," but nothing about settings for externals alone. Are there options for those elsewhere? I have always let my computer go to sleep after an hour or so, so I feel a little odd toggling that setting to 'never'. Or should I not concern myself with that? I'll look for another cable and try that too. thanks again, Mary On 2011-10-31, at 3:44 PM, Scott Strawbridge wrote: > Hi Mary > sounds like either a faulty USB connection (have you tried a different port > or cable?) or possibly there's a setting in Energy saver that's causing the > disruption > I had the latter with my USB drives while running Snow Leopard. > There's a setting in Energy Saver to put drives to sleep. Try toggling that > setting. > ---- > Scott Strawbridge | Graphic Artist > scotts1@xxxxxxx > scott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > http://www.liquidphoenixdesign.com > http://www.scottstrawbridge.com > tel:(519) 474-2754 > iChat/Skype/Twitter: scotts1 > > > > > > > On 10-31-2011, at 2:56 PM, Mary Read wrote: > >> The disk was not ejected properly. If possible, always eject a disk before >> unplugging it or turning it off >