Member Avatar for tenchitekno

Hi,
I'm actually new to this site and haven't posted here before, so I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right area, but I have a problem that I have been trying to fix for awhile.
I have an 500GB SimpleTech PininFarina external hard drive and whenever I try to open it I get this message: "G:\ Access is denied." It just began appearing suddenly about 2 weeks ago. I hadn't installed any new programs or anything. An d the weird thing is that I can still access the files through other programs, e.g. I have the Zune software and all of my music is on my external drive and I can still play the music through the Zune program even though I can't access the drive.
I have tried running the computer in SafeMode to access the Security tab and add the User to the allowed users list (or something like that.) Yet, I still can't access it.
Please Help,
Rechard

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by barryt

Dani AI

Generated

This pattern — the drive showing a folder icon, apps (Zune) still reading files, but "G:\ Access is denied" in Explorer and Explorer crashing on Control Panel — strongly suggests a permissions/autorun or shell-level problem rather than a dead disk. Immediate priority is preserving data before any format or deeper fixes.

  1. Back up first. If Explorer still lets other apps read files, copy everything off to a different drive or another PC. If Explorer crashes while browsing, use a robust copy method (or attach the external to a different machine). From a command prompt you can mirror the tree including hidden files; change the target letter/path to match your system:

    xcopy "G:\*" "E:\BackupFromG\" /E /H /K /Y

  2. If files are hidden by an autorun/malware file, unhide and remove it (run in an administrator command prompt, adjust letter as needed):

    attrib -s -h -r "G:\autorun.inf"
del "G:\autorun.inf"
attrib -s -h -r "G:\*.*" /S /D

  3. Try simple hardware and OS workarounds before formatting: swap USB cable/port (use a rear port), attach the drive to another computer, or boot a Linux live USB to mount and copy files (this bypasses Windows ACLs and Explorer). Run an up-to-date on-demand scanner such as Malwarebytes on both the PC and the external drive to remove infections that can cause autorun/Explorer problems (as suggested).

  4. After a verified backup, you can try non-destructive repairs (disk check, remove autorun, change drive letter in Disk Management) and only reformat as a last resort (as recommended). If the file system is badly damaged and files are critical, use recovery tools (TestDisk/PhotoRec) or a professional service rather than immediate formatting.

Notes: you already tried ownership fixes and a disk check (, ); since those failed, prioritize a full backup with the methods above before further changes.

Recommended Answers

All 10 Replies

Member Avatar for tenchitekno

Please Help, I'm really not sure what to do at this point and as I have searched the internet I haven't found a solution.

Member Avatar for Stefano Mtangoo

Tried check disk?
Try something like this (Assuming F is your drive)
chkdsk F: /f
try and see

Member Avatar for tenchitekno

sorry I'm not that computer savvy; do I input that in run... or something else and i've done an error check, if that is the same thing and it still doesn't work. And i'v also found out that i can access it through the folders side tab. I just can't access the drive (G:\) in my computer and I cant open up the control panel. When I try to open the control panel, explorer shuts down. I've run my virus sweeper (Webroot Antivirus) and it didn't find anything. Any idea about what might be wrong?

Member Avatar for cguan_77

to use chkdsk..you need to go to command prompt..like go to start->run->then type cmd then enter.. the command prompt window will appear..you type the chkdsk command..
but have you tried using malware bytes...

Member Avatar for tenchitekno

to use chkdsk..you need to go to command prompt..like go to start->run->then type cmd then enter.. the command prompt window will appear..you type the chkdsk command..
but have you tried using malware bytes...

I did the disk check and it still doesn't work. My brother installed malwarebytes before but it was on my old external hdd that broke. Is the program free? If not, it's not currently an option for me.

Member Avatar for barryt

hello
yes this is why it is alway important to have enough free HD space in more than one place .... you should copy the files to a seperate location on another HD reformat the drive and then recopy the info back to the drive. it sounds like you had a virus (the same kind you get on a flash drive) when your system removed the virus and or the autorun.* file your icon should have also changed to a yellow folder icon rather than a drive icon, you can continue to use the drive by exploring it or opening it through iexplorer but to use the normal open button you will have to reformat it
hope it helps
barry

Member Avatar for tenchitekno

hello
yes this is why it is alway important to have enough free HD space in more than one place .... you should copy the files to a seperate location on another HD reformat the drive and then recopy the info back to the drive. it sounds like you had a virus (the same kind you get on a flash drive) when your system removed the virus and or the autorun.* file your icon should have also changed to a yellow folder icon rather than a drive icon, you can continue to use the drive by exploring it or opening it through iexplorer but to use the normal open button you will have to reformat it
hope it helps
barry

Alright I guess I'll just format it. Luckily my mom has an external that's basically empty, so I'll just use that to temporarily store the files. And it did change from a hard drive icon to a folder icon. The funny thing is it uses a folder icon for my mom's drive as well but hers is fully accessible. I'm not sure why I didn't think of just reformatting it in the first place. Thanks for you help; I'm going to reformat it tonight.

Member Avatar for barryt

The funny thing is it uses a folder icon for my mom's drive as well but hers is fully accessible.

the virus might have been cleaned not deleted on your moms pc
barry

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