BlueMak

I have a folder with patches for a lot of software. The folder is several GBs in size. Well, not anymore. Now it is empty. I haven't deleted it, nor is anyone else with access to my PC. It is in an external drive (drive F) and now whenever I tried to open it from windows I get a message that the disk in drive F is not formatted! WTF? Not the drive F, but the disk in drive F? The other folders on that drive are appear to be fine. So, where are my folders and files in that folder? As I said before several GBs, IIRC more than 7-8 GBs. Perhaps more than 12.
OS=Windows XP home edition.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

BlueMak

I just tried the windows' error checking utility on the drive. At the end of phase 2 I got an error message that it was unable to complete the disk check.
It doesn't sound too good, does it?
Are there any 3rd party programs that do error checking on the drive? That are free?

__________________

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

BlueMak

I tried to use the powermax utility from Maxtor to check the drive.
It boots ok, but my keyboard (Saitek Eclipse USB) doesn't work in the program. It asks to press F8 or Esc but neither, nor any other key work. My guess is that I need a PS/2 keyboard. (insert appropriate smiley face here)
I have one other question but I will ask it in a new thread, it feels better to do that than post it here.

__________________

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

BlueMak

Now I keep getting random? data error cyclic redundancy check or something on that drive even when trying to open some folders or delete files. More and more I am starting to believe the drive is almost dead.

__________________

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

H3X4D3C1M4L

Right you are. CRC errors = a dead drive or controller. But it sounds to me as if the drive is going