Unable to delete corrupted files

Question

I have an mp3 player which has somehow gotten corrupted. In some folders where there used to be mp3 files, its suddenly gotten these weirdly named gibberish files. Screenshot is below:

screenshot

Notice also that it says there are 23.1 gb worth of items selected while the space on the player is actually 2 Gb.

If I try to delete these files through the computer, I get the error "Cannot delete files : Cannot read from the source file or disk" as in the screenshot. In the mp3 player itself, I simply can't do anything inside this folder, it shows none of the options until I leave the folder and go to a non corrupted one.

If I try to delete this folder via DOS, I get this error:

Dos screenshot

This makes me think that because of the weird characters in the file names, windows can't delete them. However it doesn't let me rename them either (same error as first screenshot).

Any ideas how to fix this?

If you have a Command Prompt open at G:\, it does count as "in use". Also, chkdsk. — u1686_grawity, Dec 13 '11 at 14:21
@ClickUpvote: Are you sure there isn't a format option on the MP3 player itself? What model is it? — James P, Dec 13 '11 at 14:23
@ClickUpvote: Have you tried a format on the MP3 Player itself? — Tamara Wijsman, Dec 13 '11 at 14:29
When I tried format i didn't have anything open. I don't have a format option in the mp3 player, i only have a delete all option which i've tried, it deleted all the good files but not the corrupted ones — Click Upvote, Dec 13 '11 at 14:56
Can't delete file named ЃϵϳЅЂϿϽϯІχϯπρЂϻϵЉЃϵϳЅ — Sathyajith Bhat, Dec 29 '11 at 12:44

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 13 '11 at 14:21

5

Boot from an Ubuntu Live CD and delete the files.

answered Dec 13 '11 at 14:21

Mehper C. Palavuzlar

55,487

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 13 '11 at 14:21

1

Windows XP has some issues with resolving file names.

I strongly suggest you use a LiveCD, like Ubunutu and try to delete the partitions usiing the parttool that is included there. That is if you want to format and recreate the drive. Then reboot and reinstall windows on it and create new partitions.

Using the live cd, if it is FAT32 you will be able to delete these files with no problem, if it is NTFS, you might run into some issues, but i think Ubuntu Live CD supports NTFS write.

The thing is why has this happened? Maybe the drive has bad sectors or broken PCB, or bad connections? Possibly virus...

answered Dec 13 '11 at 14:21

Piotr Kula

3,735

1

Ubuntu has supported NTFS for a couple years now – Izkata Dec 13 '11 at 18:10
I had a bad USB cable cause this. The device would be detected by Windows but the device would freeze and crash when attempting to copy files – ravibhagw Sep 10 '17 at 17:14

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 13 '11 at 14:23

If you want to stick with Windows - copy the files you want to preserve on your hard drive, then reformat the mp3 player. Copy the preserved files back.

Another option would be to use some linux LiveCD - Ubuntu, knoppix, etc. They will handle it correctly.

Unable to delete corrupted files

3 Answers3