fireberd said:
In the case of the hard drive enclosure, I would suspect the enclosure since it apparently worked OK on a 2.0 port.
I wonder if it might have simply been due to my unplugging and re-plugging the USB cord, though? I noticed when I went to unplug it from the USB 3.0 port that it was slightly slanted, so that some of the metal of the plug was showing on one side. I theorize that this may have caused a weak connection. Not only did the drive not malfunction after I unplugged the cord from the 3.0 port and plugged it int other 2.0 port, but so far, it has also been working correctly after I plugged it back (securely) into the 3.0 port again. I'm not sure whether my theory is feasible, as I have gotten conflicting information from various sources about whether such a problem can be caused by a loose USB connection.

That's why, while I'm still not sure whether the problem is fixed, I am holding off for the time being on buying any other products to fix the problem until such time as i am certain whether it has been fixed.