Guide: How to Fix Corrupt Folder and Files on Windows 10 PC
I can imagine your surprise if you click on a folder or file and it won’t open on your Windows 10 PC. Instead, you watch a pop-up tell you that the file or folder is damaged. Most users get some version of the message “The file or folder is corrupt or unreadable.” It’s strange and worrying. Hence, we will walk you through to fix that and open corrupt files and folders on your Windows 10 PC. In the case of external hard drives or USB drives, you will see the error ‘X: is not accessible’ (where X is the respective drive letter) followed by the same message about the corrupted file. The system will then bring up another popup that will prompt you to format the drive by saying, “You must format the disk in drive X: before you can use it.” You don’t want to format it as you will lose all files and folders on the drive. Here are a few ways to recover corrupted folders and files in Windows 10. Follow them and make sure this never happens again. Let’s start.
How did the file or folder get corrupted?
You need to understand the main causes of this unfortunate event. It will help you solve the problem better. The solutions should work for both internal and external drives. I will share more details where necessary. Note: External drives that have been damaged as a result of water, fire, or physical drops cannot be recovered. You need to take the drive to a data recovery expert and the data recovery will depend on the condition of the drive.
1. Scan for viruses and other threats
You can use your favorite antivirus app or use the built-in Windows Defender (now Microsoft Defender) that comes preinstalled on all Windows 10 computers. Windows Defender has come a long way and is one of the most effective antivirus apps in the world right now.
Download, install and run Malwarebytes now. Malware is not the same as a virus. You need both on your computer to avoid damaging your files and folders. Finally, you need to download and run the Safety Scanner app from Microsoft. Always download the latest version before running it. The portable app is not automatically updated. Retrieve malware bytes
2. Check for system errors
Open File Explorer (press Windows key + E keyboard shortcut) and right click on the drive that is damaged to select Properties.
On the Tools tab, click Check in the Error check box.
Windows 10 will now check and fix common disk related issues running in the background.
3. Run the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool
Microsoft staff recommend that you run the Windows Memory Diagnostic utility to make sure it’s not a memory leak or a similar problem with your computer. In Control Panel, search Windows Search and open it. Then go to System and Security> Administrative Tools. That will open a new window where you double-click Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.
Click on ‘Restart now and check for problems (recommended)’ in the popupup that follows. Your PC will automatically reboot after that, so make sure you’ve saved your work before clicking that option.
4. Run Check Disk Command
One of the most common solutions for the corrupted file and folder error is Check Disk command. Search for Command Prompt in Windows Search and open it with administrator privileges by selecting Run as administrator from the left pane. Close all other programs.
Type the check disk command as shown below in the command prompt. Replace the letter ‘x’ with the drive letter that is damaged. Works for both internal and external drives. chkdsk / fx:
The process will take some time. After it is done, check if you can access the corrupted file / folder. Are you still getting the message “The file or folder is corrupt or unreadable”? Do you see a message that the volume is in use by another process and schedule the scan? If you do, type Y and press Enter to confirm the scan schedule and restart your computer. So it will start the scan while your computer is booting.
5. Format and restore data
This solution applies to those who use external hard drives or flash drives and get the error message ‘The file or folder is corrupt or unreadable’ with an option to format it. As noted earlier, formatting the drive will delete all data on the drive. The first thing to do is back upup create the data on another disk. There are a number of data recovery apps available in the market. We’ve covered Recuva and EaseUS, two of the most popular.
Check if that works and if you can open the file / folder. If not, then go ahead and format the drive. You will also find the format option when you right-click on the drive letter. However, try your best to recover the files before formatting your drive.
6. How to Prevent data loss
No matter where your data is located, internal drive or external, there is always a chance of loss due to various reasons. One of the best ways to protect your data is to create automatic backups, locally or in the cloud. You can use OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox. You can always use an external drive to make backups, but even that is prone to errors and physical damage. Still, a backup option is always better than none.
Prevention is better than cure
The best way is to get a cloud backupup so that you never encounter this problem again. If you already encounter it, you can try to fix it or use file recovery software like EaseUS or Recuva to recover lost data. However, recovery depends on several factors, such as whether the data has been overwritten, whether the files have been irretrievably damaged, and so on. Learn from this mistake for now so you don’t end up in a similar mess again. The next up: Restoring your computer to an earlier point in time may or may not work. It can also help with various Windows errors. Click on the link below for the difference between recovery and reset functions and how to carry them out.
How to Fix Corrupt Folder and Files on Windows 10 PC: benefits
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