File on External HDD

whitelightrider

Folks,

I have a 750GB external Media HDD. There is 1 file on the drive that I cannot delete. The folder has files that contain names made up of strange characters and I cannot delete them.

I have tried to format the drive but it fails each time.

Any idea what I can do?

Dacelonid

If you have a linux Live CD, boot into that and delete the file from within Linux.
I've run into similar problems before and that has always worked

whitelightrider

Dacelonid wrote: »

If you have a linux Live CD, boot into that and delete the file from within Linux.
I've run into similar problems before and that has always worked

Hi Dacelonid, I dont have a Linux disc. Dont suppose you know of any other way?

Legfend

You could just burn one. Linux is free to download. Also if you're too cheap to buy a blank cd you can just order the cd online for free:

https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

mickoneill30

Try running a chkdsk on the disk. Right click the drive in explorer. Choose tools and then Error Checking. It should fix the problem file and let you delete it.

Or if that doesn't work and format isn't working have you tried deleting the partition and recreating it.

ED E

Have you checked the file privelages on the drive. I found on mine before that as default they were all protected.

What report do you get when you try to delete them?

gamer

Try Dos prompt, del file.

ttm

I'm with running chkdsk with the repair option.

I'd also try deleting the partion from Computer Managment > Disk Managment then recreating it then Format again.

I'd also want to know what is the error msg you get.

whitelightrider

ttm wrote: »

I'm with running chkdsk with the repair option.

I'd also try deleting the partion from Computer Managment > Disk Managment then recreating it then Format again.

I'd also want to know what is the error msg you get.

Ok, I managed to delete the partition. However when I try to recreate it and format, it tells me that the Format failed.

The error I was getting was the that source file had changed. It was a weird error. All the file names looking like Wingdings.

ED E

Do you have decent AV software running. A virus is unlikely to want to be deleted. Just something to consider.

Do you have another machine to try and format it with?

whitelightrider

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

Do you have decent AV software running. A virus is unlikely to want to be deleted. Just something to consider.

Do you have another machine to try and format it with?

Hi Lethal. Its one of the lads here at work. He told me he scanned all the files at home beforehand. Its weird though.

Ill try and format it from another machine and see. Ive tried it from the command prompt, Disk Management, etc and they all come back with a fail.

mickoneill30

whitelightrider wrote: »

Ok, I managed to delete the partition. However when I try to recreate it and format, it tells me that the Format failed.

The error I was getting was the that source file had changed. It was a weird error. All the file names looking like Wingdings.

Did you run that Chkdsk. It'll find any faulty parts of the hard drive and get Windows to ignore them.

ttm

Your not really helping us help much here?

So far we haven't had any exact error msgs and we don't even know what OS this drive is plugged into?

If you get really desperate you can always open the box and put the drive in as a master on a system and see if an XP disk will go through the procedure of formatting the disk.

But for some reason I have fdisk /mbr (drive) in the back of my head but for the life of me can't find a reference to it beeing used on XP or Vista based systems with NTFS, think I'd still try it though , checking it up you should use the fixboot cmd from the recovery consel but I've never tried it so can't be sure. If from Computer managment > disk managment you know this drive is FOR EXAMPLE Disk3 then the command from the recovery consel would be fixboot \device\harddisk3 but check the disk designation with the map command (just type map when in the recovery consel).

whitelightrider

ttm wrote: »

Your not really helping us help much here?

So far we haven't had any exact error msgs and we don't even know what OS this drive is plugged into?

If you get really desperate you can always open the box and put the drive in as a master on a system and see if an XP disk will go through the procedure of formatting the disk.

But for some reason I have fdisk /mbr (drive) in the back of my head but for the life of me can't find a reference to it beeing used on XP or Vista based systems with NTFS, think I'd still try it though , checking it up you should use the fixboot cmd from the recovery consel but I've never tried it so can't be sure. If from Computer managment > disk managment you know this drive is FOR EXAMPLE Disk3 then the command from the recovery consel would be fixboot \device\harddisk3 but check the disk designation with the map command (just type map when in the recovery consel).

Hi ttm. I mentioned above that I was able to delete the partition. The drive is now in RAW format. When I try to format it it gets all the way through and then tells me the format failed. I tried to force it to format using FAT32 and was told it was too big for that. I cant run chkdsk on a RAW format disk.

whitelightrider

When formatting it with NTFS it gets through the format and to "creating file system structures" and then just comes up "Format Failed"

Capt'n Midnight

was the drive dropped

is it making funny noises ?

use hdtune to do a surface test
or try again in safe mode so there is less junk running

ttm

whitelightrider wrote: »

Hi ttm. I mentioned above that I was able to delete the partition. The drive is now in RAW format. When I try to format it it gets all the way through and then tells me the format failed. I tried to force it to format using FAT32 and was told it was too big for that. I cant run chkdsk on a RAW format disk.

OK so if we are getting desperate (FAT32 on a 3/4Gig disc ) why not try creating a partiton on say half the drive and formatting that? IF that works delete it and try a bigger partition or create another partition in the free space.

Capt'n Midnight

yeah there is a limit on the size of FAT32 that windows XP can set up,

cab looking up if there is a patch for it - google for the limit
you can format the partition to that size with any newer OS, including the linux live CD's

whitelightrider

Hi Folks,

Managed to get this drive up and running. Have it formatted with NTFS and movies loaded on to it. The only problem is that its not recognised when I connect it to the TV. It shows the root directory, but its empty.
Its a STOREX Media Drive

ttm

Always has to be the first question - Did it work OK with the TV before?

Is this relevant? Not sure if its the same model or the same problem

whitelightrider

ttm wrote: »

Always has to be the first question - Did it work OK with the TV before?

Is this relevant? Not sure if its the same model or the same problem

Hi ttm,
Yeah looks like that is a similar issue. I cant format it with FAT32 as its too big.
It used to work fine on the TV.

ttm

What system was the "parent" for the format XP or Vista? I'm just going to do some revision on formats and see if there is any difference in the two just in case.

Edit> yep there are some small differences but all the versions are compatable, did you format the device on its USB cable or out of its box and in a PC? - be dumb if you had created a Dynamic disk but not sure if that would work back on the USB cable? If you were using Vista I'd go back and try XP but not sure it will make any differnce?

whitelightrider

ttm wrote: »

What system was the "parent" for the format XP or Vista? I'm just going to do some revision on formats and see if there is any difference in the two just in case

Think the parent was on XP.

Dont suppose you could recommend a good Media Hard Drive (approx 500 or 750 GB), via PM so it doesnt break charter.

ttm

This may be relevant. The guy states the drive is formated with fat32?

System is preformated with FAT32 so we can not write to MPiX-355 files larger than 4GB.

ttm

A mate bought a 500GB one in PCWorld and I borrow quite often so I know it works on a whole load of PC's and different TV's. I know the new version of the one he has now has an HDMI socket and theres a 1TB version - I'll check which one it is and let you know. I'm also looking for the fat32 format tool for you drive.

Edit> Can't really say if its that good as I've only seen the one and not checked the reviews but the IOMEGA 500G Media Storage Media Player Hard Drive has caused me no bother and gets carted around a lot locally with lots of different users copying files off it.

Also http://www.storex.eu/storex/pages/support/support_index.asp should help you find a util to reformat the drive

whitelightrider

ttm wrote: »

A mate bought a 500GB one in PCWorld and I borrow quite often so I know it works on a whole load of PC's and different TV's. I know the new version of the one he has now has an HDMI socket and theres a 1TB version - I'll check which one it is and let you know. I'm also looking for the fat32 format tool for you drive.

Edit> Can't really say if its that good as I've only seen the one and not checked the reviews but the IOMEGA 500G Media Storage Media Player Hard Drive has caused me no bother and gets carted around a lot locally with lots of different users copying files off it.

Also http://www.storex.eu/storex/pages/support/support_index.asp should help you find a util to reformat the drive

Thanks very much ttm. Very much appreciated.