External hard drive files invisible :( Solved/Closed

Question

Hi All,

I have 6GB of back-up files on a 80GB external hard drive in NTFS format.  When I tried to access them from Windows 7 (64-bit), the drive appears empty.  However, when I look at the drive properties, you can see the 6GB of used space.

I have tried:

- Showing hidden files, folders and drives in Windows Explorer, but only came up with "$RECYCLING.BIN" folder containing a 1kB desptop configuration file.

- Opening the drive using Command Prompt and checking the directory, including the switch to show all hidden files (dir /ah).

- Opening the drive properties and using the error checking tool to "automatically fix file system errors" and "scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors".

- Scanning the drive with Avast antivirus (negative).

- Opening the drive on another computer with Windows XP.

- Even the program "USB Show" to try to show the invisible files.

But to no avail :/  My laptop was stolen when my home was buglarised, so this hard drive is all I have left of my personal files and photos (work files were backed-up via Dropbox).

Any other ideas?  What I wouldn't give for an old gutsy program like XTree Gold!

Thanks for reading :)  I would be eternally grateful for any assistance.

Ambucias · Accepted Answer

Hello,

You just may have an autorun.inf virus on all of your drives.

Try this 1 

Step 1: 

Click on the below link and download the file "AutorunExterminator" 

https://ccm.net/downloads/security-and-maintenance/5911-autorun-exterminator/ 

Extract it --> Double-click on "AutorunExterminator" --> Plug your flash drive now. 

This will remove the autorun.inf files from your flash drive and also from drives. 

Step 2: 

Click on "Start" -->Run --> type cmd and click on OK. 

Here I assume your flash drive letter as G: 

Enter this command. 

attrib -h -r -s /s /d g:\*.* 

You can copy the above command --> Right-click in the Command Prompt and 

paste it. 

Note : Don't forget to replace the letter g with your flash drive letter. 

Now press "Enter". 

Now check for your files in Flash Drive. 

Step 3: 

After that, download the Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from the below link 

https://ccm.net/downloads/security-and-maintenance/4621-malwarebytes-anti-malware/ 

Update it --> Perform "Full Scan" 

Note : Default selected option is "Quick Scan". 

Good Luck.

Mike · Answer

Ambucias, you're amzing!  it works like a charm.  Thank you so much.

Otmanovsky · Answer

Thank you so much Ambucias

External hard drive files invisible :(

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