Undeletable files on ext USB HDD

I deleted a directory with several sub-folders, each with several
music files, off a 250GB HDD (G connected via USB 2.0 to a laptop
running XP Pro SP2.

The delete hung on one of the music files in a sub-folder. After
getting out of that hang, I deleted the sub-folders one at a time with
no problem, until I came to the sub-folder that contained the music
file that hung the original mass delete attempt.

I can not delete several of the files in that folder. I have tried
all of the tricks I can find, opening a CMD prompt, shutting off
explorer.exe, trying to use DOS to delete the files, but it doesn't
work.

I got to the sub-folder via DOS, ran dir /x, saw the files, but when I
tried to delete them via DEL, I get the message on several of them
that that they could not be found. I was able to delete several of
the files that folder via DEL, but the one that hung the original
delete, plus several others, can not be deleted (can't be found - even
though I can see them) - Tried short names and all. Tried DELTREE
command to delete the directory this sub-folder is in, but a message
said that DELTREE was not a valid DOS command(?)

When I open Windows Explorer, I can still see those files and all of
their details - size, etc. - but when I try to delete any of them, I
loose the folder tree file details for the entire HDD - G:. Turning
the G: HDD OFF-ON gets the file details back, I can then access all
other files on the HDD, but when I try to touch those files - poof,
there goes the file details again.

I've tried CHKDSK, but get a message 'Windows unable to complete the
disk check' - that also causes the tree to go poof.

I tried an Unlocker software utility, but could not delete the file,
it asked if remove on reboot - Yes - but didn't happen. Got a message
that the Recycle Bin on G: was corrupted. Didn't know there was a
recycle bin on the external HDD. Can not find one in G:'s file tree.
I have the Recycle Bin global option set to reserve the same space on
all drives. Have looked into deleting the Recycle Bin(s) and letting
XP re-establish them, but could not locate the $recycle.bin file I was
told to delete.

Any ideas on how to fix things so I can get these files off this HDD
would be greatly appreciated. Can't do any file maintenance
operations until they are gone.

Thanks.

Hello

The total length of the file name is too long.

See
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_can_yo...Explorer_error
or
http://tinyurl.com/n934kv

Regards,
Singapore Computer Home Repair Service
http://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/
Video Conversion VHS Video8 Hi8 Digital8 MiniDv MicroMv
http://www.bootstrike.com/VHSVideoConvert/
"Teflon" wrote in message
...
I deleted a directory with several sub-folders, each with several
music files, off a 250GB HDD (G connected via USB 2.0 to a laptop
running XP Pro SP2.

The delete hung on one of the music files in a sub-folder. After
getting out of that hang, I deleted the sub-folders one at a time with
no problem, until I came to the sub-folder that contained the music
file that hung the original mass delete attempt.

I can not delete several of the files in that folder. I have tried
all of the tricks I can find, opening a CMD prompt, shutting off
explorer.exe, trying to use DOS to delete the files, but it doesn't
work.

I got to the sub-folder via DOS, ran dir /x, saw the files, but when I
tried to delete them via DEL, I get the message on several of them
that that they could not be found. I was able to delete several of
the files that folder via DEL, but the one that hung the original
delete, plus several others, can not be deleted (can't be found - even
though I can see them) - Tried short names and all. Tried DELTREE
command to delete the directory this sub-folder is in, but a message
said that DELTREE was not a valid DOS command(?)

When I open Windows Explorer, I can still see those files and all of
their details - size, etc. - but when I try to delete any of them, I
loose the folder tree file details for the entire HDD - G:. Turning
the G: HDD OFF-ON gets the file details back, I can then access all
other files on the HDD, but when I try to touch those files - poof,
there goes the file details again.

I've tried CHKDSK, but get a message 'Windows unable to complete the
disk check' - that also causes the tree to go poof.

I tried an Unlocker software utility, but could not delete the file,
it asked if remove on reboot - Yes - but didn't happen. Got a message
that the Recycle Bin on G: was corrupted. Didn't know there was a
recycle bin on the external HDD. Can not find one in G:'s file tree.
I have the Recycle Bin global option set to reserve the same space on
all drives. Have looked into deleting the Recycle Bin(s) and letting
XP re-establish them, but could not locate the $recycle.bin file I was
told to delete.

Any ideas on how to fix things so I can get these files off this HDD
would be greatly appreciated. Can't do any file maintenance
operations until they are gone.

Thanks.

copy what files/data
you want to save off
of it.

then reformat it.

--

db·´¯`·...¸)))º
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen




"Teflon" wrote in message ...
I deleted a directory with several sub-folders, each with several
music files, off a 250GB HDD (G connected via USB 2.0 to a laptop
running XP Pro SP2.

The delete hung on one of the music files in a sub-folder. After
getting out of that hang, I deleted the sub-folders one at a time with
no problem, until I came to the sub-folder that contained the music
file that hung the original mass delete attempt.

I can not delete several of the files in that folder. I have tried
all of the tricks I can find, opening a CMD prompt, shutting off
explorer.exe, trying to use DOS to delete the files, but it doesn't
work.

I got to the sub-folder via DOS, ran dir /x, saw the files, but when I
tried to delete them via DEL, I get the message on several of them
that that they could not be found. I was able to delete several of
the files that folder via DEL, but the one that hung the original
delete, plus several others, can not be deleted (can't be found - even
though I can see them) - Tried short names and all. Tried DELTREE
command to delete the directory this sub-folder is in, but a message
said that DELTREE was not a valid DOS command(?)

When I open Windows Explorer, I can still see those files and all of
their details - size, etc. - but when I try to delete any of them, I
loose the folder tree file details for the entire HDD - G:. Turning
the G: HDD OFF-ON gets the file details back, I can then access all
other files on the HDD, but when I try to touch those files - poof,
there goes the file details again.

I've tried CHKDSK, but get a message 'Windows unable to complete the
disk check' - that also causes the tree to go poof.

I tried an Unlocker software utility, but could not delete the file,
it asked if remove on reboot - Yes - but didn't happen. Got a message
that the Recycle Bin on G: was corrupted. Didn't know there was a
recycle bin on the external HDD. Can not find one in G:'s file tree.
I have the Recycle Bin global option set to reserve the same space on
all drives. Have looked into deleting the Recycle Bin(s) and letting
XP re-establish them, but could not locate the $recycle.bin file I was
told to delete.

Any ideas on how to fix things so I can get these files off this HDD
would be greatly appreciated. Can't do any file maintenance
operations until they are gone.

Thanks.

On Jul 19, 11:21*am, Teflon wrote:
I deleted a directory with several sub-folders, each with several
music files, off a 250GB HDD (G connected via USB 2.0 to a laptop
running XP Pro SP2.

The delete hung on one of the music files in a sub-folder. *After
getting out of that hang, I deleted the sub-folders one at a time with
no problem, until I came to the sub-folder that contained the music
file that hung the original mass delete attempt.

I can not delete several of the files in that folder. *I have tried
all of the tricks I can find, opening a CMD prompt, shutting off
explorer.exe, trying to use DOS to delete the files, but it doesn't
work.

I got to the sub-folder via DOS, ran dir /x, saw the files, but when I
tried to delete them via DEL, I get the message on several of them
that that they could not be found. * I was able to delete several of
the files that folder via DEL, but the one that hung the original
delete, plus several others, can not be deleted (can't be found - even
though I can see them) - Tried short names and all. *Tried DELTREE
command to delete the directory this sub-folder is in, but a message
said that DELTREE was not a valid DOS command(?)

When I open Windows Explorer, I can still see those files and all of
their details - size, etc. - but when I try to delete any of them, I
loose the folder tree file details for the entire HDD - G:. *Turning
the G: HDD OFF-ON gets the file details back, I can then access all
other files on the HDD, but when I try to touch those files - poof,
there goes the file details again.

I've tried CHKDSK, but get a message 'Windows unable to complete the
disk check' - that also causes the tree to go poof.

I tried an Unlocker software utility, but could not delete the file,
it asked if remove on reboot - Yes - but didn't happen. *Got a message
that the Recycle Bin on G: was corrupted. *Didn't know there was a
recycle bin on the external HDD. *Can not find one in G:'s file tree.
I have the Recycle Bin global option set to reserve the same space on
all drives. *Have looked into deleting the Recycle Bin(s) and letting
XP re-establish them, but could not locate the $recycle.bin file I was
told to delete.

Any ideas on how to fix things so I can get these files off this HDD
would be greatly appreciated. *Can't do any file maintenance
operations until they are gone.

Thanks.

Try http://killbox.net/

or

http://www.purgeie.com/delinv/

Tryhttp://killbox.net/

or

http://www.purgeie.com/delinv/

Neither of these worked. Thanks for your response and suggestion.

Since the undeletable files are only 15MB out of 250GB total, backup
and reformatting is not an option, at this time.

On Jul 19, 8:40*am, "Singapore Computer Service"
wrote:
Hello

The total length of the file name is too long.

Seehttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_can_you_delete_a_file_that_has_a_long_f....
orhttp://tinyurl.com/n934kv

Regards,
Singapore Computer Home Repair Servicehttp://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/

I've tried the short name version in DEL, no joy.

I fear something got corrupted in the HDD's index track.

When I open Windows Explorer, I can still see those files and
all of their details - size, etc. - but when I try to delete any
of them, I loose the folder tree file details for the entire HDD
- G:. Turning the G: HDD OFF-ON gets the file details back, I
can then access all other files on the HDD, but when I try to
touch those files - poof, there goes the file details again.

I've tried CHKDSK, but get a message 'Windows unable to complete
the disk check' - that also causes the tree to go poof.


db wrote in

copy what files/data you want to save off of it. then reformat
it.


Teflon wrote in news:6b9b8754-5af0-46cb-
:

Since the undeletable files are only 15MB out of 250GB total,
backup and reformatting is not an option, at this time.

Your only other option is to continue using this disk with the
expectation that any or all of your files can disappear at any time.
There are problems so severe on this disk that Microsoft's own
"CHKDSK" routine gives up on them. Since you should have backups of
important data already, simply update those backups, reformat the
drive, and restore those files from backups. I would recommend a
complete reformat and not a "Quick" reformat so that you pick up and
account for any potentially bad areas on your disk.

HTH,
John

as a final piece of
advice:

in order to have such
options in the future,

you should partition
that drive into smaller
one's.

the benefits of have
multiple partitions far
exceed having only
the one.

--

db·´¯`·...¸)))º
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen




"Teflon" wrote in message ...
Since the undeletable files are only 15MB out of 250GB total, backup
and reformatting is not an option, at this time.

On Jul 19, 12:37*pm, "db" databaseben at hotmail dot com wrote:
as a final piece of
advice:

in order to have such
options in the future,

you should partition
that drive into smaller
one's.


That's good advice, thanks.

Now, I believe I have found the culprit and it's not a failing HDD.

Seems the Recycle Bin on this drive was too small for the large amount
of files in the Directory I tried to mass delete, so, in the process
of trying to remove and replace older files, and being a USB device,
the communications with the PC got messed up, some of the file info
was partially moved to the RECYCLE space and then stopped, thus it
became corrupted. (that's my technical explanation).

Net is, the Recycle Bin on this drive is not functioning, may not even
be there.

I have the Recycle Bin set to treat each drive's space allocation
separately. All the of other drives have tabs to set the allocation
(Internal HD - C: + 2 other USB HDD's - F: & E: ). This drive - G: -
does not have a tab,

When I delete a file from the other drives, the deleted file is listed
in the Recycle Bin on the Desktop, not so with files deleted from G:.

When I go in to DOS and look at each of the drives on this system, I
can find the RECYCLED directory on E: (FAT32) and the see the deleted
files from E: in that directory. I can find the RECYCLER directory on
the F: (NTFS) drive, but can not see the deleted files from F:. There
is no RECYCLER directory to be found on G: (NTFS).

It may be connected to the problem on G:, but I can not see the
RECYCLE directory on C: - the internal HD where WinXP Pro is
installed, also NTFS.

So, if anyone has some pointers on how I could go about recovering/
repairing the Recycle space on an NTFS drive, I would appreciate that.

Anything else you need to know, just ask.

Thanks.

it sounds like you
found a problem.

-----------

I know that when I
delete files that are
too big,

windows provides a
warning that they
won't be found in
the recycle bin after
deletion.

-------------------

I look forward to the
responses provided
by others and

doing further research
on this interesting issue.

--

db·´¯`·...¸)))º
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen




"Teflon" wrote in message ...
On Jul 19, 12:37 pm, "db" databaseben at hotmail dot com wrote:
as a final piece of
advice:

in order to have such
options in the future,

you should partition
that drive into smaller
one's.


That's good advice, thanks.

Now, I believe I have found the culprit and it's not a failing HDD.

Seems the Recycle Bin on this drive was too small for the large amount
of files in the Directory I tried to mass delete, so, in the process
of trying to remove and replace older files, and being a USB device,
the communications with the PC got messed up, some of the file info
was partially moved to the RECYCLE space and then stopped, thus it
became corrupted. (that's my technical explanation).

Net is, the Recycle Bin on this drive is not functioning, may not even
be there.

I have the Recycle Bin set to treat each drive's space allocation
separately. All the of other drives have tabs to set the allocation
(Internal HD - C: + 2 other USB HDD's - F: & E: ). This drive - G: -
does not have a tab,

When I delete a file from the other drives, the deleted file is listed
in the Recycle Bin on the Desktop, not so with files deleted from G:.

When I go in to DOS and look at each of the drives on this system, I
can find the RECYCLED directory on E: (FAT32) and the see the deleted
files from E: in that directory. I can find the RECYCLER directory on
the F: (NTFS) drive, but can not see the deleted files from F:. There
is no RECYCLER directory to be found on G: (NTFS).

It may be connected to the problem on G:, but I can not see the
RECYCLE directory on C: - the internal HD where WinXP Pro is
installed, also NTFS.

So, if anyone has some pointers on how I could go about recovering/
repairing the Recycle space on an NTFS drive, I would appreciate that.

Anything else you need to know, just ask.

Thanks.

On Jul 20, 12:09*pm, "db" databaseben at hotmail dot com wrote:
it sounds like you
found a problem.


'A' problem, maybe not 'THE' problem, we'll see.


I know that when I
delete files that are
too big,

windows provides a
warning that they
won't be found in
the recycle bin after
deletion.

As do I, but the nature of USB connected drives in this case, may have
hindered Windows in providing that warning before it got itself in to
trouble.

I look forward to the
responses provided
by others

As do I.


doing further research
on this interesting issue.


Thanks for your interest and comments. Hope there's a fix out there
somewhere.

[See inline replies between paragraphs]

"Teflon" spambaitmeister at gmail dot com wrote:

I deleted a directory with several sub-folders, each with several
music files, off a 250GB HDD (G connected via USB 2.0 to a laptop
running XP Pro SP2.

Is this the same 250GB HDD you bought in early 2007?
Do you leave it plugged into the USB port all the time?
Have you had any power blackouts while it was in use?
Have you checked the drive manufacturer's website for diagnostic tools?

The delete hung on one of the music files in a sub-folder. After
getting out of that hang, I deleted the sub-folders one at a time with
no problem, until I came to the sub-folder that contained the music
file that hung the original mass delete attempt.

What is the name of the music file? Wav? Mp3?
Can your music program still open/play the file?

I can not delete several of the files in that folder. I have tried
all of the tricks I can find, opening a CMD prompt, shutting off
explorer.exe, trying to use DOS to delete the files, but it doesn't
work.

Did you try SHIFT-Delete?
Did you try starting in Safe Mode with Command Prompt?

I got to the sub-folder via DOS, ran dir /x, saw the files, but when I
tried to delete them via DEL, I get the message on several of them
that that they could not be found. I was able to delete several of
the files that folder via DEL, but the one that hung the original
delete, plus several others, can not be deleted (can't be found - even
though I can see them) - Tried short names and all. Tried DELTREE
command to delete the directory this sub-folder is in, but a message
said that DELTREE was not a valid DOS command(?)

Windows XP Command Prompt is not DOS and has no deltree command.
[quote:] 'deltree' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.[/quote]

When I open Windows Explorer, I can still see those files and all of
their details - size, etc. - but when I try to delete any of them, I
loose the folder tree file details for the entire HDD - G:. Turning
the G: HDD OFF-ON gets the file details back, I can then access all
other files on the HDD, but when I try to touch those files - poof,
there goes the file details again.

Can you get right click Properties? If so, click Advanced button. Is the
file encrypted or compressed? Hidden or Read Only?

I've tried CHKDSK, but get a message 'Windows unable to complete the
disk check' - that also causes the tree to go poof.

Start [Settings] Control Panel Administrative Tools Event Viewer

Check Event Viewer for the "Application" category or "System" category Error
message. Double click it to display. The button below the up and down arrow
buttons is the Copy to Clipboard button. Paste a copy into a reply here.

I tried an Unlocker software utility, but could not delete the file,
it asked if remove on reboot - Yes - but didn't happen. Got a message
that the Recycle Bin on G: was corrupted. Didn't know there was a
recycle bin on the external HDD. Can not find one in G:'s file tree.
I have the Recycle Bin global option set to reserve the same space on
all drives. Have looked into deleting the Recycle Bin(s) and letting
XP re-establish them, but could not locate the $recycle.bin file I was
told to delete.

The Unlocker utility misinterpreted the error code. USB removable drives do
not have Recycle Bin capability. When a file on removable media is
deleted, there is no safety net - it is permanently deleted.

Any ideas on how to fix things so I can get these files off this HDD
would be greatly appreciated. Can't do any file maintenance
operations until they are gone.

Thanks.

Can you cut or move them to another folder on the same drive? Or drag and
drop the containing folder to another drive while holding shift key?


"Teflon" spambaitmeister at gmail dot com wrote:
Since the undeletable files are only 15MB out of 250GB total, backup
and reformatting is not an option, at this time.

How much Free Space on the G: drive?
(You need at least 15 percent free space for defrag to work properly.)

Do you have backup copies of any data on that drive that you don't want to
lose? That's your highest priority. (Murphy's law has no mercy.)

"db" DatabaseBen at hotmail dot com wrote:
as a final piece of
advice:
in order to have such
options in the future,
you should partition
that drive into smaller
one's.

"Teflon" spambaitmeister at gmail dot com wrote:
That's good advice, thanks.

A maximum of 50GB per partition is good. Stay with NTFS format.

Now, I believe I have found the culprit and it's not a failing HDD.

You have not ruled out the possibility of one or more bad sectors on the
disk, since CHKDSK was unable to complete its operation. You need to make
sure that System Restore is not monitoring the G-drive. You should try
starting in Safe Mode with Command Prompt and "chkdsk /f" (without quotes),
and allow it to complete. (Never start chkdsk if storm power blackout or
peak air conditioner usage brownouts could interrupt it.) If you get an
error message, write it down and post a reply back here with the full text.

Seems the Recycle Bin on this drive was too small for the large amount
of files in the Directory I tried to mass delete, so, in the process
of trying to remove and replace older files, and being a USB device,
the communications with the PC got messed up, some of the file info
was partially moved to the RECYCLE space and then stopped, thus it
became corrupted. (that's my technical explanation).

Net is, the Recycle Bin on this drive is not functioning, may not even
be there.

I have the Recycle Bin set to treat each drive's space allocation
separately. All the of other drives have tabs to set the allocation
(Internal HD - C: + 2 other USB HDD's - F: & E: ). This drive - G: -
does not have a tab,

When I delete a file from the other drives, the deleted file is listed
in the Recycle Bin on the Desktop, not so with files deleted from G:.

When I go in to DOS and look at each of the drives on this system, I
can find the RECYCLED directory on E: (FAT32) and the see the deleted
files from E: in that directory. I can find the RECYCLER directory on
the F: (NTFS) drive, but can not see the deleted files from F:. There
is no RECYCLER directory to be found on G: (NTFS).

It may be connected to the problem on G:, but I can not see the
RECYCLE directory on C: - the internal HD where WinXP Pro is
installed, also NTFS.

In Control Panel Folder Options View(tab) Advanced Settings
UN-check "Hide protected operating system files", besides checking the "Show
hidden files and folders" option, to see the "RECYCLER" folder in the C:
root directory. [In Command Prompt at "C:\" enter: "dir recycler /ah"
(without quotes) to see it.] You must be logged on with Administrator
privileges to delete recycler folder. (Deleting it will delete every User's
Recycle Bin contents on the drive. Windows Explorer will re-create Recycler
and associated files the next time it is needed.) Don't forget to RE-check
"Hide protected operating system files" (recommended!

So, if anyone has some pointers on how I could go about recovering/
repairing the Recycle space on an NTFS drive, I would appreciate that.

Your G: drive is an external removable USB device, and therefore has no
Recycle Bin capability unless you have modified it to be a mounted drive.

Mounted Drive Deletion Issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319368

Anything else you need to know, just ask.

Thanks.

Is your computer set up for more than one user? Maybe the music file was
created on that drive under another user account, and you need to "take
ownership" of it.

(Triple-click here, to shift to high gear!
--Richard

Richard wrote:
[See inline replies between paragraphs]

"Teflon" spambaitmeister at gmail dot com wrote:

I deleted a directory with several sub-folders, each with several
music files, off a 250GB HDD (G connected via USB 2.0 to a laptop
running XP Pro SP2.

Is this the same 250GB HDD you bought in early 2007?
Do you leave it plugged into the USB port all the time?
Have you had any power blackouts while it was in use?
Have you checked the drive manufacturer's website for diagnostic tools?

The delete hung on one of the music files in a sub-folder. After
getting out of that hang, I deleted the sub-folders one at a time with
no problem, until I came to the sub-folder that contained the music
file that hung the original mass delete attempt.

What is the name of the music file? Wav? Mp3?
Can your music program still open/play the file?

I can not delete several of the files in that folder. I have tried
all of the tricks I can find, opening a CMD prompt, shutting off
explorer.exe, trying to use DOS to delete the files, but it doesn't
work.

Did you try SHIFT-Delete?
Did you try starting in Safe Mode with Command Prompt?

I got to the sub-folder via DOS, ran dir /x, saw the files, but when I
tried to delete them via DEL, I get the message on several of them
that that they could not be found. I was able to delete several of
the files that folder via DEL, but the one that hung the original
delete, plus several others, can not be deleted (can't be found - even
though I can see them) - Tried short names and all. Tried DELTREE
command to delete the directory this sub-folder is in, but a message
said that DELTREE was not a valid DOS command(?)

Windows XP Command Prompt is not DOS and has no deltree command.
[quote:] 'deltree' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.[/quote]

When I open Windows Explorer, I can still see those files and all of
their details - size, etc. - but when I try to delete any of them, I
loose the folder tree file details for the entire HDD - G:. Turning
the G: HDD OFF-ON gets the file details back, I can then access all
other files on the HDD, but when I try to touch those files - poof,
there goes the file details again.

Can you get right click Properties? If so, click Advanced button. Is the
file encrypted or compressed? Hidden or Read Only?

I've tried CHKDSK, but get a message 'Windows unable to complete the
disk check' - that also causes the tree to go poof.

Start [Settings] Control Panel Administrative Tools Event Viewer

Check Event Viewer for the "Application" category or "System" category Error
message. Double click it to display. The button below the up and down arrow
buttons is the Copy to Clipboard button. Paste a copy into a reply here.

I tried an Unlocker software utility, but could not delete the file,
it asked if remove on reboot - Yes - but didn't happen. Got a message
that the Recycle Bin on G: was corrupted. Didn't know there was a
recycle bin on the external HDD. Can not find one in G:'s file tree.
I have the Recycle Bin global option set to reserve the same space on
all drives. Have looked into deleting the Recycle Bin(s) and letting
XP re-establish them, but could not locate the $recycle.bin file I was
told to delete.

The Unlocker utility misinterpreted the error code. USB removable drives do
not have Recycle Bin capability. When a file on removable media is
deleted, there is no safety net - it is permanently deleted.

Any ideas on how to fix things so I can get these files off this HDD
would be greatly appreciated. Can't do any file maintenance
operations until they are gone.

Thanks.

Can you cut or move them to another folder on the same drive? Or drag and
drop the containing folder to another drive while holding shift key?


"Teflon" spambaitmeister at gmail dot com wrote:
Since the undeletable files are only 15MB out of 250GB total, backup
and reformatting is not an option, at this time.

How much Free Space on the G: drive?
(You need at least 15 percent free space for defrag to work properly.)

Do you have backup copies of any data on that drive that you don't want to
lose? That's your highest priority. (Murphy's law has no mercy.)

"db" DatabaseBen at hotmail dot com wrote:
as a final piece of
advice:
in order to have such
options in the future,
you should partition
that drive into smaller
one's.

"Teflon" spambaitmeister at gmail dot com wrote:
That's good advice, thanks.

A maximum of 50GB per partition is good. Stay with NTFS format.

Now, I believe I have found the culprit and it's not a failing HDD.

You have not ruled out the possibility of one or more bad sectors on the
disk, since CHKDSK was unable to complete its operation. You need to make
sure that System Restore is not monitoring the G-drive. You should try
starting in Safe Mode with Command Prompt and "chkdsk /f" (without quotes),
and allow it to complete. (Never start chkdsk if storm power blackout or
peak air conditioner usage brownouts could interrupt it.) If you get an
error message, write it down and post a reply back here with the full text.

Seems the Recycle Bin on this drive was too small for the large amount
of files in the Directory I tried to mass delete, so, in the process
of trying to remove and replace older files, and being a USB device,
the communications with the PC got messed up, some of the file info
was partially moved to the RECYCLE space and then stopped, thus it
became corrupted. (that's my technical explanation).

Net is, the Recycle Bin on this drive is not functioning, may not even
be there.

I have the Recycle Bin set to treat each drive's space allocation
separately. All the of other drives have tabs to set the allocation
(Internal HD - C: + 2 other USB HDD's - F: & E: ). This drive - G: -
does not have a tab,

When I delete a file from the other drives, the deleted file is listed
in the Recycle Bin on the Desktop, not so with files deleted from G:.

When I go in to DOS and look at each of the drives on this system, I
can find the RECYCLED directory on E: (FAT32) and the see the deleted
files from E: in that directory. I can find the RECYCLER directory on
the F: (NTFS) drive, but can not see the deleted files from F:. There
is no RECYCLER directory to be found on G: (NTFS).

It may be connected to the problem on G:, but I can not see the
RECYCLE directory on C: - the internal HD where WinXP Pro is
installed, also NTFS.

In Control Panel Folder Options View(tab) Advanced Settings
UN-check "Hide protected operating system files", besides checking the "Show
hidden files and folders" option, to see the "RECYCLER" folder in the C:
root directory. [In Command Prompt at "C:\" enter: "dir recycler /ah"
(without quotes) to see it.] You must be logged on with Administrator
privileges to delete recycler folder. (Deleting it will delete every User's
Recycle Bin contents on the drive. Windows Explorer will re-create Recycler
and associated files the next time it is needed.) Don't forget to RE-check
"Hide protected operating system files" (recommended!

So, if anyone has some pointers on how I could go about recovering/
repairing the Recycle space on an NTFS drive, I would appreciate that.

Your G: drive is an external removable USB device, and therefore has no
Recycle Bin capability unless you have modified it to be a mounted drive.

Mounted Drive Deletion Issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319368

Anything else you need to know, just ask.

Thanks.

Is your computer set up for more than one user? Maybe the music file was
created on that drive under another user account, and you need to "take
ownership" of it.

(Triple-click here, to shift to high gear!
--Richard



Just a thought,try 'sfc /scannow' from boot.Worth a try,you've nothing
to lose

See inline replies between paragraphs:

Is this the same 250GB HDD you bought in early 2007?

Good memory - yes it is, a Simpletech, have bought several more since
then.

Do you leave it plugged into the USB port all the time?

Yes, but since I just use it to mainly store backups, it is not turned
on most of the time. Just turn it on to create a new backup copy.

Have you had any power blackouts while it was in use?

Not to my knowledge, unless you consider turning it off and on to be
the equivalent of a power failure.

Have you checked the drive manufacturer's website for diagnostic tools?

Simpletech's website doesn't offer much more than a link to a general
HDD forum. Don't know if other HDD vendor's diagnostics would work.
I do have a WD USB HDD also, but it is FAT32.

The delete hung on one of the music files in a sub-folder. *After
getting out of that hang, I deleted the sub-folders one at a time with
no problem, until I came to the sub-folder that contained the music
file that hung the original mass delete attempt.

What is the name of the music file? Wav? Mp3?

Cherish.mp3

Can your music program still open/play the file?

No, when I try, the drive's folder tree goes blank. Turn drive off/on
and the tree is re-populated with file names.


I can not delete several of the files in that folder. *I have tried
all of the tricks I can find, opening a CMD prompt, shutting off
explorer.exe, trying to use DOS to delete the files, but it doesn't
work.

Did you try SHIFT-Delete?

Yes, lost the tree.

Did you try starting in Safe Mode with Command Prompt?

No, will give that a try.


I got to the sub-folder via DOS, ran dir /x, saw the files, but when I
tried to delete them via DEL, I get the message on several of them
that that they could not be found. * I was able to delete several of
the files that folder via DEL, but the one that hung the original
delete, plus several others, can not be deleted (can't be found - even
though I can see them) - Tried short names and all. *Tried DELTREE
command to delete the directory this sub-folder is in, but a message
said that DELTREE was not a valid DOS command(?)

Windows XP Command Prompt is not DOS and has no deltree command.
[quote:] 'deltree' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.[/quote]

OK, thanks for clearing that up. Found several other things that told
me I was not using full DOS.

When I open Windows Explorer, I can still see those files and all of
their details - size, etc. - but when I try to delete any of them, I
loose the folder tree file details for the entire HDD - G:. *Turning
the G: HDD OFF-ON gets the file details back, I can then access all
other files on the HDD, but when I try to touch those files - poof,
there goes the file details again.

Can you get right click Properties? If so, click Advanced button. Is the
file encrypted or compressed?

No

Hidden or Read Only?

Read Only

I've tried CHKDSK, but get a message 'Windows unable to complete the
disk check' - that also causes the tree to go poof.

Start [Settings] Control Panel Administrative Tools Event Viewer

Check Event Viewer for the "Application" category or "System" category Error
message. Double click it to display. The button below the up and down arrow
buttons is the Copy to Clipboard button. Paste a copy into a reply here.


Several regarding this issue:

Event Type: Information
Event Source: Application Popup
Event Category: None
Event ID: 26
Date: 7/18/2009
Time: 9:05:21 AM
User: N/A
Computer: MASTER
Description:
Application popup: Windows - Delayed Write Failed : Windows was unable
to save all the data for the file G:\RECYCLER
\S-1-5-21-3963324658-1813341729-135915572-1005\INFO2. The data has
been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer
hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file
elsewhere.

Event Type: Information
Event Source: Application Popup
Event Category: None
Event ID: 26
Date: 7/18/2009
Time: 9:05:21 AM
User: N/A
Computer: MASTER
Description:
Application popup: Windows - Delayed Write Failed : Windows was unable
to save all the data for the file G:\RECYCLER
\S-1-5-21-3963324658-1813341729-135915572-1005. The data has been
lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware
or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.

Event Type: Information
Event Source: Application Popup
Event Category: None
Event ID: 26
Date: 7/18/2009
Time: 9:05:21 AM
User: N/A
Computer: MASTER
Description:
Application popup: Windows - Delayed Write Failed : Windows was unable
to save all the data for the file G:\RECYCLER
\S-1-5-21-3963324658-1813341729-135915572-1005\Dg87. The data has been
lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware
or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.

Event Type: Information
Event Source: Application Popup
Event Category: None
Event ID: 26
Date: 7/18/2009
Time: 9:05:21 AM
User: N/A
Computer: MASTER
Description:
Application popup: Windows - Delayed Write Failed : Windows was unable
to save all the data for the file G:\CDV Cabinet. The data has been
lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware
or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

I tried an Unlocker software utility, but could not delete the file,
it asked if remove on reboot - Yes - but didn't happen. *Got a message
that the Recycle Bin on G: was corrupted. *Didn't know there was a
recycle bin on the external HDD. *Can not find one in G:'s file tree.
I have the Recycle Bin global option set to reserve the same space on
all drives. *Have looked into deleting the Recycle Bin(s) and letting
XP re-establish them, but could not locate the $recycle.bin file I was
told to delete.

The Unlocker utility misinterpreted the error code. USB removable drives do
not have Recycle Bin capability. When a file on removable media is
deleted, there is no safety net - it is permanently deleted.

Funny, when I delete a file off any of my USB drives, the file shows
up in the Recycle Bin. When I checked each of the USB drives via DOS
(after checking all of the un-hide options), I found a RECYCLER
directory on the NTFS drives, and a RECYCLED directory on the FAT32
drive. The G: drive RECYCLER directory had a S-1-5-..... in it.
Inside that directory were 2 files, a 65 byte 'desktop.ini' file and a
20 byte 'Info2' file.

The RECYCLER directory on the other NTFS drive had the
S-1-5-.......directory in it, and in side of that directory was a file
identifying the test file I deleted from that drive, Df1.mp3 (F:
drive) and Dc1.mpeg (C: drive).

Seems there are different recycle bin associated directories on those
USB HDDs.

My thought are, the 'Info2' file in the G: drive RECYCLER directory is
corrupted and should be deleted. Wondering if the 'desktop.ini' file
is corrupted as well.

Any ideas on how to fix things so I can get these files off this
HDD
would be greatly appreciated. *Can't do any file maintenance
operations until they are gone.

Thanks.

Can you cut or move them to another folder on the same drive? Or drag and
drop the containing folder to another drive while holding shift key?

No to all, any attempt to do anything with the folder in question, or
the files therein, results in the folder tree being defoliated of
files.


"Teflon" spambaitmeister at gmail dot com wrote:
Since the undeletable files are only 15MB out of 250GB total, backup
and reformatting is not an option, at this time.

How much Free Space on the G: drive?

47 GB

(You need at least 15 percent free space for defrag to work properly.)

Do you have backup copies of any data on that drive that you don't want to
lose? That's your highest priority. (Murphy's law has no mercy.)

I can recreate most everything that is there.

"db" DatabaseBen at hotmail dot com wrote:
as a final piece of
advice:
in order to have such
options in the future,
you should partition
that drive into smaller
one's.
"Teflon" spambaitmeister at gmail dot com wrote:
That's good advice, thanks.

A maximum of 50GB per partition is good. Stay with NTFS format.

Thanks for the guideline. Will do the same on the other HDD's to
simplify backups.


Now, I believe I have found the culprit and it's not a failing HDD.

You have not ruled out the possibility of one or more bad sectors on the
disk, since CHKDSK was unable to complete its operation. You need to make
sure that System Restore is not monitoring the G-drive. You should try
starting in Safe Mode with Command Prompt and "chkdsk /f" (without quotes),
and allow it to complete. (Never start chkdsk if storm power blackout or
peak air conditioner usage brownouts could interrupt it.) If you get an
error message, write it down and post a reply back here with the full text.