Member Avatar for atarischad

Today I was copying a file from my laptop onto my USB external hard drive when the transfer froze and I had to cancel it. The file is still intact on my laptop but the unfinished copy created on my external hard drive does not seem to want to be deleted.

When I try to delete it from Windows Explorer I get the message "Cannot delete: The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable." I tried in safe mode with the same results. I tried a couple of programs designed for similar situations (Killbox, Unlocker, FileAssassin) but they were unable to remove it.

In the command prompt I have run "E:\>chkdsk /f" but get this message:

The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Chkdsk may run if this volume is dismounted first. ALL OPENED HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULd THEN BE IN VALID. Would you like to force a dismount on this volume? (Y/N)

I select "No" and get the option to "schedule the volume to be checked the next time the system restarts" and when I select "Yes" and restart nothing happens. It boots as usual (I believe because the external hard drive is not recognized until Windows is operating.)

When I simply type "E:\>chkdsk" it runs, recognizes the problem file but ends with the message "Errors found. CHKDSK cannot continue in read-only mode."

When I try to delete the file in the command prompt (by typing E:\>del +the file location) I receive the message "The file or directory is corrupted or unreadable."

Does anyone have any suggestions for removing this file? Any help at all would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by govi

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Generated

This thread ended with the filesystem repair in Windows removing the bad copy: confirmed that the drive Properties -> Tools -> Error Checking approach suggested by repaired the NTFS metadata and the corrupted file disappeared. Earlier attempts to delete the file or run boot-time checks failed because the underlying filesystem metadata was damaged, not because the file was merely locked.

Why scheduled checks sometimes do nothing: many external USB disks are not fully enumerated by the time Windows runs pre-boot maintenance, so a scheduled check can simply never see the drive. Explorer-level deletes and unlocker utilities also cannot remove entries when the Master File Table or directory records are corrupted; those tools only help when locks or handles are the problem.

Practical, low-risk workflow to handle the same problem in future:

  1. If the data matters, make a sector-level image first (tools such as ddrescue or Clonezilla are suitable). Imaging preserves recoverable data before any risky repairs.
  2. Run repair from an environment that actually sees the drive early: boot a Windows PE/Recovery USB or connect the disk via an interface that presents it as a fixed drive (eSATA or internal SATA) so the repair utility can access the volume.
  3. If Windows is not an option, boot a Linux live system with NTFS-3G; Linux sometimes removes orphaned directory entries Windows cannot, and the ntfsfix utility can clear NTFS journal problems (note: ntfsfix is not a full substitute for Windows repair).
  4. If the disk shows hardware faults or repairs fail, recover what you can from the image or mount, then reformat and restore from backup.

Additional notes: and offered good troubleshooting steps that are useful when locks are the issue; ’ antivirus scan is sensible before repair; and ’s conservative fallback — back up and reformat — is the correct final step if filesystem repair cannot be completed.

Recommended Answers

All 17 Replies

Member Avatar for HoustonIT

try chkdsk /r

Member Avatar for atarischad

try chkdsk /r

This produced the same results as chkdsk /f

Member Avatar for airbourne

...still looking. You already tried a reboot.

Member Avatar for airbourne

Try this:

Close all open programs.
CTRL-ALT-DELETE and open task manager.
Close EXPLORER.EXE
Go to FILE and choose RUN.
Type CMD to open a command prompt
Then from the C:>_ change to the drive letter and folder.
Type "dir /x" to get the short names of all the files and folders.
Then perform a DEL on the short filename or RMDIR /S for short directory names.


I have a program that I have used in the past (not the ones you have already listed). I'll see if I can find it when I get home.

Member Avatar for atarischad

Try this:

Close all open programs.
CTRL-ALT-DELETE and open task manager.
Close EXPLORER.EXE
Go to FILE and choose RUN.
Type CMD to open a command prompt
Then from the C:>_ change to the drive letter and folder.
Type "dir /x" to get the short names of all the files and folders.
Then perform a DEL on the short filename or RMDIR /S for short directory names.


I have a program that I have used in the past (not the ones you have already listed). I'll see if I can find it when I get home.

Unfortunately this did not work either. I received a message saying that the file was corrupted or unreadable and that I should run chkdsk.

Member Avatar for caperjack

try hijackthis it has a file removal function .

Member Avatar for atarischad

The only option I found in HijackThis was "delete on reboot" which did not work because the external HD is not immediately recognized on reboot.

Member Avatar for caperjack

The only option I found in HijackThis was "delete on reboot" which did not work because the external HD is not immediately recognized on reboot.

How big is this file ,
did you try plugging drive into another computer

Member Avatar for airbourne

It's a stretch, but try this tool:

Member Avatar for atarischad

How big is this file ,
did you try plugging drive into another computer

The file is about 300 MB. Just tried everything with the same results on a different computer.

It's a stretch, but try this tool:

No luck.

I'm puzzled.

Member Avatar for airbourne

Well, depending on how much data is on it, there is always the copy everything off, format and copy everything back...

The chkdsk thing should work, but it's strange that it is not letting you.

Member Avatar for atarischad

Yeah, I think the reason chkdsk isn't working on reboot is because when the computer reboots it does not recognize the external hard drive until it is unplugged and plugged back in (though I'm not sure why.)

It's more of an annoyance than anything (especially since I can't find a solution) and isn't worth taking the time to copy everything off of it (it's a 111 GB hard drive and only has about 5 GB of free space.)

I'll keep searching for a solution and if anyone has any other ideas I am all ears!

Member Avatar for caperjack

go to mycomputer ,right click on desired drive and chose properties ,then tools , error checking ,click on fix now check the empty boxes ,it should not prompt to restart computer ,if does just check off one option at a time

Member Avatar for atarischad

Took a few hours to run but this worked! The file is gone. Thanks so much for your help!

Member Avatar for caperjack

your welcome ,good luck

Member Avatar for Frank Wallis

If you have any anti-virus eg.avg,avira or etc, just scan your
USB drive with that anti-virus and see if this file is infected or not.
If it is infected then move it to the quarantine.
If the file is not infected, then make sure you make a backup of all
the data from this usb drive to your system and format this usb drive.

After performing this , write back to this thread.

Member Avatar for govi

Hi friends ,

My openion
1.Format the drive after copying your important data to another harddrive or pendrive .
2. Goto command prompt then use e:\del /f /q file_name.extension

Just try this

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