3 replies to this topic

[pomeroyster]

In the past few days I was having malware trouble; a member of your team on the malware removal forum was able to help me fix the problem (many thanks to him!) but unfortunately my external hard drive seems to have become at least partially corrupted. When I attempted to delete a certain folder, it continued to deliver error messages about being corrupted and unreadable. Even using a utility specifically meant to delete hard-to-remove files, the folder refused to be deleted - something the malware removal expert said he had never heard of, and so referred me here. To be slightly more specific, my external hard drive only has four or five folders in it, and all of them are working normally with the exception of this one that delivers the corrupted messages. I have also received messages about using the "Chkdsk" utility, and on starting up my computer, I now (briefly) see a screen that says something about FAT32 and System Volume Information, a screen I have never come across before. Any thoughts?

[DanielD]

You could always copy the files to your computer, re-format the drive (which will erase everything) and then copy everything back. That can take some time though depending on how much stuff you have so I would suggest that as somewhat of a last resort. You say you have tried utilities already, but just to check, have you tried using HiJackThis to delete it? Also, can you right click the folder and choose Properties? If so, try unchecking Read Only if it's checked, then go to the Security tab and make sure none of the "Deny" check boxes are checked. Lastly, can you open the folder and see if you have any files in it? Sometimes it could just be one corrupt file in the folder that prevents you from deleting the whole folder, this would make that file a better target of any delete-utilities rather than the whole folder.

[pomeroyster]

Copying the files to my computer isn't really an option, as there is far more information on this external hard drive than there is free space in my laptop. HiJackThis couldn't do anything, nor could Avenger. I still can't delete it after messing with the "read-only" options, and when I try to open the folder, I get the same message I do when I try and delete the folder: "The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable"

[Doug]

Try running CHECKDISK on your external HD.

Since you receive the Error message:

"The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable"

That indicates that Windows cannot "see" where the directory, folder or file "starts" and where it "ends".

CHKDSK X: /r should fix any file system corruptions

Note: "X" signifies the Drive Letter for your External HD