Error: 0x80070079 The semaphore timeout period has expired.

What does Error: 0x80070079 stands for. I got this when I was trying to copy some files from a external hard drive. I have a SeaGate 320 GB external drive. I coped around 50GB of data at one time and then copied it my d drive. It was going well for sometime and then suddenly it crashed with the error. I am getting the error again and again and I cannot run some of my development applications also.

Try to copy small amount of data at a time. It is better if you use the usb drive on other some other port. There can be number of reasons behind it. I am too looking for a valid reason behind the same. Also if possible upgrade the drivers of your external drive and then check again.