"A Microsoft made application". I wonder if it's related to your issues in any way. My Microsoft made applications don't cause freezing and losing the internet connection.
Did you already try this external drive on another PC?
- If it works correctly there, I'd start making a full backup of its contents to another drive.
- If it doesn't work there either, consider contact a data recovery company like drivesavers.com or krollontrack.com. But they won't be free.
Kees
Last night, my PC randomly froze and lost internet connect after starting a Microsoft made application. It was not unfreezing so I had to force shut down. Well, my external hard drive was plugged in and now the PC won't read it. It says the USB devices has "malfunctioned". I tried another USB device and it works fine. My external hard drive was not backed up so any help would be appreciated. The hard drive was a 500GB Seagate Expansion. I tried more than one port and nothing works. Even unplugged the AC (it was a tip), and nothing. The light stays on even if the USB is not in any port. This never happens. Not sure if this would help but, when the PC was starting up, the hard drive was making sounds like it was starting up and turning off. Almost like it was being plugged in, losing power, and starting up again. I've been coming to the site for a while so I'm hoping to get some help. Again, any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic