Windows 7 Folder turned into a 0KB file?

[Tony Noel]

Hi,

On my FreeAgent 250GB Hard Drive, set up as a network hard drive, I have a folder with 60+GB of movies (avi. mp4. etc) and all of a sudden in turned into a 0KB file.

I would really like to fix this, anyone got some ideas?

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[Manikandan]

Check the windows update, any update recently mainly any thing related to .net client profile. Of yes
If the folder still 60+ then right click on the file try with different player .

 

[Tony Noel]

Check the windows update, any update recently mainly any thing related to .net client profile. Of yes
If the folder still 60+ then right click on the file try with different player .

The folder says 0KB, it was originally 60GB. I have three 4 different computers all which have access to the hard drive, and none of them show it as a folder.

 

[Trouble]

There is another file in the root of that drive according to the image that you included above called autorun.inf
My concern is that a while back there was a pretty prevalent issue with a virus/malware product associated with autorun.inf
It could be innocent enough but generally you don't want to see these types of files in the root of any of your drives, you should be able to right click it and open it with notepad to determine what it is pointing at and if it is making an "open" call to a mysterious executeable then you may have an infection something like
open=somefilename.exe
a full scan with an updated and current antivirus software might be in order
keep us posted.
Regards
Randy

 

[Tony Noel]

There is another file in the root of that drive according to the image that you included above called autorun.inf
My concern is that a while back there was a pretty prevalent issue with a virus/malware product associated with autorun.inf
It could be innocent enough but generally you don't want to see these types of files in the root of any of your drives, you should be able to right click it and open it with notepad to determine what it is pointing at and if it is making an "open" call to a mysterious executeable then you may have an infection something like
open=somefilename.exe
a full scan with an updated and current antivirus software might be in order
keep us posted.
Regards
Randy

Hi Randy,

Did what you said, and I attached a picture of the virus scan and what happened when I opened the autorun.inf with notepad.

I believe I created the autorun.inf a long time ago in hopes of creating a shorcut or something (I don't really remember). Either way, I deleted it.

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[Yahel]

Have you try to open with "right click -> open with -> explorer"?
To fix the folder use a program called "disk heal"

 

[davehc]

If you can, try a search for just one of the movies by name. I think they may have been moved somewhere else.?
Also, look in Users - username - Searches and see if anything is listed as "recently changed folders"

 

[Tony Noel]

Have you try to open with "right click -> open with -> explorer"?
To fix the folder use a program called "disk heal"

There is no option, "open with" just "open."
I also tried the program earlier with no luck.

If you can, try a search for just one of the movies by name. I think they may have been moved somewhere else.?
Also, look in Users - username - Searches and see if anything is listed as "recently changed folders"

Problem is... There is about 5 computers in the last 3 months that have had access to that folder. And for the last 3 years of using it, this is the first problem I have ever had.

 

[Tony Noel]

Bump......

 

[Trouble]

Sorry Tony;
Don't have much more, but at the risk of sounding dumb. Have you connected the drive to another computer, just to see if the problem is the same when viewing it locally on the other computer rather than across the network. Is the drive independently powered or just USB power only?

 

[Saltgrass]

Have you tried to copy or move the item to another area, out of that parent folder?

Is there any chance the folder was just a link to another area? Is something from another area linked to it, like a media server or network share?

Have you tried booting into the Recovery function and the Command Window to see if you can do a dir command on the folder to see if it shows up outside of Windows?

Holding Shift down when you right click may give you some additional options.

Could the folder have been encrypted or compressed?

You may want to use this as a last step, but have you tried right clicking and select "Restore Previous versions". I could see a situation where this would be a problem if, for some reason, the folder had become corrupted.

 

[Tony Noel]

Have you tried to copy or move the item to another area, out of that parent folder?

Yes, it says I need admin privileges (which I have) and I have tried to take ownership of it.

Is there any chance the folder was just a link to another area? Is something from another area linked to it, like a media server or network share?

No, close to impossible.

Have you tried booting into the Recovery function and the Command Window to see if you can do a dir command on the folder to see if it shows up outside of Windows?

Not sure what this means... sorry.

Could the folder have been encrypted or compressed?

You may want to use this as a last step, but have you tried right clicking and select "Restore Previous versions". I could see a situation where this would be a problem if, for some reason, the folder had become corrupted.

It's possible that it could be. It says there are no previous versions.

 

[Manikandan]

Hi tony,
I had same problem but when I try to open with different player it started working,
I. Had this problem since my external hard drive affected by virus I did scan using e-set and tried it worked.

 

[Saltgrass]

If you right click on the "folder" and look at properties, it is normal for a folder to say O bytes. Below that on the General Tab, is a "Contains" entry. Does that show anything as far as files or folders inside?

If you go to the customize tab, can your at least change the icon?

I do not know what happens if Digital Rights Management gets involved, but could that be part of the problem?

 

[Tony Noel]

If you right click on the "folder" and look at properties, it is normal for a folder to say O bytes. Below that on the General Tab, is a "Contains" entry. Does that show anything as far as files or folders inside?

If you go to the customize tab, can your at least change the icon?

I do not know what happens if Digital Rights Management gets involved, but could that be part of the problem?

I added a screenie to show you what I get when I right click with shift. I highly doubt that could be the reason. But now thinking about it, look what I boxed on the picture. This is weird since it was made over 2 years ago. Maybe it could have something to do with Windows Media Center?

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Hi tony,

I had same problem but when I try to open with different player it started working,
I. Had this problem since my external hard drive affected by virus I did scan using e-set and tried it worked.

I will download that and try right now!

 

[Saltgrass]

From the screenie, seems like it is confused about what it really is.

Do you know why it states the Location as A:\ ?

 

[Tony Noel]

From the screenie, seems like it is confused about what it really is.

Do you know why it states the Location as A:\ .

Yeah, that's it's Drive Letter.

Look here: VVV
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What is also weird is that, the Hard Drive still shows the space of the Hard Drive with the Movies folder in it. 103GB of 229GB - There is no way this could be without the Movie Folder.

 

[Saltgrass]

Looks like I am going to have to do some more research. What model drive is this external version? If you use A:, something normally used for a floppy drive, do you or have you set something in the bios to see it?

 

[Tony Noel]

Looks like I am going to have to do some more research. What model drive is this external version?

It's a Seagate FreeAgent 250GB Desktop USB Hard Drive, connected by (one of the greatest inventions ever known to man) a Linksys Network Storage Link.

If you use A:, something normally used for a floppy drive, do you or have you set something in the bios to see it?

No? I don't think so? All I did to get it running was connect the Storage Link to my Hard Drive, log into it, attach my Hard Drive, format it. Then on my computer select "Map Network Drive" and boom, there it is.

 

[Saltgrass]

If I am looking at the correct Linksys device, the last firmware release was in 2005. Since the device has built-in utilities for formatting and setup, if you haven't gotten a newer firmware update, perhaps it just isn't compatible with Windows 7?

You might see if it can be run in some type of compatibility mode.

Windows 7 Compatibility for Storage Devices: Network Attached Storage Hardware: Download Device Drivers