For Windows to work properly, it must read and write data from your computer's hard drive continuously. Even when you are not creating documents or saving files to the hard drive, Windows reads and writes temporary data and files to enable multitasking and preserve operations in its cached memory. When Windows encounters a problem trying to read or write data to a hard drive, flash drive or optical disc, you may see an error such as "The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error" or something similar. The error could be the result of a defective or failed disk or drive. However, the error may also be the result of drive connectivity issues or a corrupted Windows driver or registry entry.

Step 1

Shut down the computer and restart it. If you see an I/O error only once, restarting the machine may fix it without further action. Sometimes, the Windows SWAP file, or temporary cache file, may become corrupted by spyware or poorly written software that writes too much data or reduces the size of the SWAP file temporarily. If this occurs, Windows may report an I/O error stating it cannot read or write data to the "C:" drive. Restarting the computer flushes the temporary cache files and fixes the problem. However, you should run your anti-malware or antivirus software after restarting the computer to avoid software related I/O errors in the future.