I have an external drive F: .
I have some folders with a lot of data in it. One of the folders will open but in that folder are sub folders.
One of the sub folder will not open. It gives me a message that says "You need to format the disk in drive F: before you can use it".
I know the drive don't need to be formated because all other folders are opening fine. I am using Vista 64 bit. How do I fix this? Please help.
Try right clicking the drive icon, select Properties, then Tools. Then select the Check Now in Error Checking. That will scan the drive for errors and may find and fix the problem. It shouldn't require a format, but you should backup the information ASAP in case the drive is failing.
Thanks so much for your respond PC509. While I was waiting for a respond, I looked at some other forums. I was told to do the "chkdsk f:\" under the CMD command. Well I did. Sad to say I believe I have lost the data in that sub-folder now. It ran through the entire process and at the end it said. "Convert lost chains to file (y/n)." I chose yes which then gave me a message that said "13161952 kb in 2447 recovered files. Then gave me the amount of disk space, hidden files, folders, etc. Well when I went back to check the folder, the folder icon changed to a file (paper) form. When I try to open it, it ask what would i like to use. I tried media player however it won't work. All music is in the folder. I didn't back up anything sad to say because the forum didn't tell me to do so. I don't know much about these things so it makes it hard for me. Do you know If I could change it back to how it was and then try what you told me...Or did I permanently lose it all?
You can give this program a try. It can usually recover deleted files (either intentional or accidental).
Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download
I've had a lot of success on it. It may not be able to get everything, but it may get a lot of it.
Kernel for Windows Data Recovery is impeccable and most proficient Windows Disk Recovery software that has been devised to cater the need of recovering the data lost from computer's hard disk or other storage media like PEN drive, ZIP drive, etc. The tool has got GUI that further makes it easy to operate and user-friendly Windows data recovery utility.
You were given bad advice. With Chkdsk, you sould have used the /R operator. That would have recovered your datra - if it was recoverable.
/R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information (implies /F).
In this case you need to use third party software to solve this problem. This free Partitioning utility can help you. You can use it to format, recover, resize, wipe or hide your partition easily.
Currently it's free for home users totally. More details please check miniaide fat32 formatter.
