Can Windows corrupt a flash drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter M Skabialka
  • Start date Start date
M

M Skabialka

Using a WinXP Pro machine, a co-worker added a new folder to a SanDisk USB
flash drive, and a sub-folder to that. He was going to add some files to the
new sub-folder and found 50 or 60 folders and files with corrupted names
there that he has no idea where they came from. Properties for the new
folder says it holds 60 GB of data, but this is a 256 MB drive. I tried to
delete the folders in Explorer and at the command prompt, but get a message
that the files can't be deleted.

Some of this files already on the drive now seem to be corrupted. This
drive was never removed without being stopped first. How can we delete the
bogus folders and fiels and get the flash drive to recognize the true size
of everything? How can we fix the corrupted files?

Thanks,

Mich
 
M Skabialka said:
Using a WinXP Pro machine, a co-worker added a new folder to a SanDisk USB
flash drive, and a sub-folder to that. He was going to add some files to the
new sub-folder and found 50 or 60 folders and files with corrupted names
there that he has no idea where they came from. Properties for the new
folder says it holds 60 GB of data, but this is a 256 MB drive. I tried to
delete the folders in Explorer and at the command prompt, but get a message
that the files can't be deleted.

Some of this files already on the drive now seem to be corrupted. This
drive was never removed without being stopped first. How can we delete the
bogus folders and fiels and get the flash drive to recognize the true size
of everything? How can we fix the corrupted files?

Thanks,

Mich
Click to expand...
Windows can't be blamed for it. Flash drives can an do fail. Format it.
Formatting will remove every thing, but it will also tell you that the drive
has failed.
 
I had a similar problem with my Apacer flash drive, though as I use it for
xferring files between my Windows box and my Mac I wasn't sure which of the
machines had buggered it up.

On searching the net, and then the Apacer website, I found that many of the
flash drive mfgs have a 'fixit' application for their drives - after a lot of
buggerising around I was eventually able to get my flash drive going again - ie
fixed and reformatted.

I suggest you do a Google search 'faulty flash drive' or some variation of
that, but first have a good look at the mfg web site.

There are also apps that can retrieve files from flash drives, though I haven't
needed to use one, so....

David
 
We saved what we could, then reformatted the drive. It seems to be working
again. But I was apalled at the number of internet sites slamming it, most
people I know have no problems with them, they don't need to be installed
with a driver CD, they just work properly once inserted.

We will make sure that anything we put on it will be somewhere else also
from now on.

Thanks,
Mich
 
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