Strange folder problem on external HDD

thegave · Nov 15, 2006, 02:25 PM

there's this folder i copied from my laptop over to my portable hdd (2.5") and i was trying to do something with it and then my pc hung so i hard rebooted.

now i can't get into the folder because it lags and then says something like "The semaphore timeout period has expired."

when I look at the properties of the folder it says 0 files 0 bytes but I know it's taking up 6gb on my portable, and when I try to delete it, it says Folder cannot be deleted because it is not empty or something like that...

help plx?

tia

I have also tried accessing the folder in command prompt but same thing happens through command prompt. If I try to CD the folder it gives me the "Semaphore timeout period has expired" message and if I try to rmdir or del or erase it says something about Folder is not empty...

and if I dir the directory it says 0 files, 0 bytes, but I know the drive has less free space than it would if the folder was empty...

If you want more specific details, the folder originally contained a series of RARs that I wanted to extract. Since there wasn't enough space on my internal harddrive, I copied the folder of RARs to my portable and then tried to extract the files back on to my internal. Partway through the extraction my computer crashed, sort of. WinRAR stopped responding so I terminated everything through Task Manager. I couldn't get it to shutdown or reboot so I had to force a shutdown. Once I rebooted the problem appeared and I can no longer access the folder.

Dowaco · Nov 15, 2006, 02:33 PM

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325487

It seem that this is due to a network data transmission error.
It can also be from copying a file too many layers deep in folders to another drive also deeply imbedded. You could try copying from one root directory to the other.

Did you try to boot into safe mode and delete from the prompt?

thegave · Nov 15, 2006, 02:36 PM

Hmm no.. I should. Will I still be able to access my external drive in safe mode?

H3X4D3C1M4L · Nov 15, 2006, 09:46 PM

Just do this.

Copy off all the other files, reformat, copy them back on.

Guarantee that'll work

Or try running chkdsk /f /x /v /r on the drive (it will take some time to do this) and see if that fixes it.

Sounds like the MFT entry got messed

Nov 15, 2006, 02:25 PM	#1
thegave -=[DHzer0point Team]=- Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 96 Rep Power: 0	Strange folder problem on external HDD there's this folder i copied from my laptop over to my portable hdd (2.5") and i was trying to do something with it and then my pc hung so i hard rebooted. now i can't get into the folder because it lags and then says something like "The semaphore timeout period has expired." when I look at the properties of the folder it says 0 files 0 bytes but I know it's taking up 6gb on my portable, and when I try to delete it, it says Folder cannot be deleted because it is not empty or something like that... help plx? tia I have also tried accessing the folder in command prompt but same thing happens through command prompt. If I try to CD the folder it gives me the "Semaphore timeout period has expired" message and if I try to rmdir or del or erase it says something about Folder is not empty... and if I dir the directory it says 0 files, 0 bytes, but I know the drive has less free space than it would if the folder was empty... If you want more specific details, the folder originally contained a series of RARs that I wanted to extract. Since there wasn't enough space on my internal harddrive, I copied the folder of RARs to my portable and then tried to extract the files back on to my internal. Partway through the extraction my computer crashed, sort of. WinRAR stopped responding so I terminated everything through Task Manager. I couldn't get it to shutdown or reboot so I had to force a shutdown. Once I rebooted the problem appeared and I can no longer access the folder.

Nov 15, 2006, 02:33 PM	#2
Dowaco DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: East Coast, USA Posts: 217 Rep Power: 0	http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325487 It seem that this is due to a network data transmission error. It can also be from copying a file too many layers deep in folders to another drive also deeply imbedded. You could try copying from one root directory to the other. Did you try to boot into safe mode and delete from the prompt?

Nov 15, 2006, 02:36 PM	Thread Starter #3
thegave -=[DHzer0point Team]=- Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 96 Rep Power: 0	Hmm no.. I should. Will I still be able to access my external drive in safe mode?

Nov 15, 2006, 09:46 PM	#4
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	Just do this. Copy off all the other files, reformat, copy them back on. Guarantee that'll work Or try running chkdsk /f /x /v /r on the drive (it will take some time to do this) and see if that fixes it. Sounds like the MFT entry got messed