You may receive this typical error “The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable” when plugging in external drives. To settle down the issue, you can refer to following 6 reasons and solutions.
When you try to connect additional drives like USB flash drives, CDs, or SD cards to computer, you may get a specific error message saying “The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable”. As many factors can result in this situation, look deep into following 6 top reasons and corresponding approaches to fix it.
And before the details, keep in mind that you have to back up vital data firstly in order to prevent data loss, like keeping Outlook backups for damaged Outlook.
1.File system (NTFS/FAT) corruption
NTFS and FAT file systems are two popular file systems for normal computer users. And they always contain all the detailed information of every file which is stored in the system including the file in the connected external hard drives. Thus if the file system gets corrupt, you will receive this error probably.
In this case, you’d better install checking application to verify if your file system is normal as usual.
2.Physical issues in devices
Water, fire, or even human violence can cause physical damages. And those damages are irreparable damages that will definitely lead to unreadable files in the external drives. In this situation, you have to resort to expert who is good at fixing storage devices.
3.Logical damage in devices
Logical damage is similar to physical damage. It is usually logical bad sectors in drives, or other relevant factors. Under this circumstance, if you cannot make sure the real causes, you should also call in professionals to help you with the issue.
4.Remove USB drives improperly
Many have an incorrect behavior of operating computer and using external device. If you always plug in/out rudely like pulling out devices without saving the data, then such errors will appear. Therefore, you should correct your improper operation and try to connect the device again.
5.Corrupt partition table
If the partition table in your computer is compromised, then system will be unable to get the right drive partition details. Accordingly, the windows system will find a wrong directory for this device as the disk is recognized as an unformatted device. In this case, you should make use of internal repair tool called chkdsk to attempt a recovery.
6.Virus infection
Apart from foresaid reasons, virus infection is always one of the most annoying factors. It can trigger plenty of issues including this one. If you haven’t installed any anti-virus software, then you’d better do it right now. And check whether some viruses have already infected your computer.
Author Introduction:
Allissa Shen is a data recovery expert in DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including SQL Server fix and word recovery software products. For more information visit www.datanumen.com
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