This probably sounds like a stupid question but has anyone experienced this

I have a MAC Book Pro Retina and The USB Cable I connect my my hard drive with always seems to fall out while working on my lap. I would think they would be more snug. Anyone else have this problem? It's happened with several cords in both ports. I fear a drive getting corrupted if this isn't ejected properly.

Do they make a lock style adapter to prevent this from happening pre-maturely?

Can't say I've ever had that happen. The drive end of the cable used to come out all the time on my older WD portables and it did cause me data corruption on one occasion.

duct tape fixes that sort of issue (I did this fix to a photographers laptop network cable during a recent Cricket World Cup game...)

USB specs allow a loose tolerance for the cable connectors, perhaps you're cable just runs loose compared with apple's socket?

Were all the cables you tried older ones? They can become damaged or worn over time, as can the ports. It is possible that the cable connectors were all used on a very snug fitting port in another computer, causing them to deform slightly, and then not fit as snuggly in your macbook.

But I do find the ports on my MacBook were somewhat loose fitting compared to other systems I've had over the years.

FYI if you use Gaf tape, (gaffers tape) as opposed to duct tape, it will leave no residue. Gaf tape is designed to be used with electronics, and to be removed. Duct tape is designed to be permanent, and used on metal.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …raphy/Ntt/gaffe​r+tape/N/0