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I opened a thumbnail drive last evening and noticed that there were several files and folders with symbolic names (not alpha-numeric) added to it. The Date modified was also a curiosity. I have run my Norton 360 against it and it indicates that there is nothing evil about it. I do not seem to be able to delete the files or folders either. Clearly this was nothing done intentionally and I have no idea where it might have come from.

What I am hoping someone can help me with is ...

  • What is it?
  • Where did it come from?
  • How dangerous is it?
  • Can I clean it?

Here's what I am seeing ...

enter image description here

Gary O. Stenstrom
  • 131

2 Answers2

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What is it?

Based on the picture I'd say that is disk corruption. Either it's just the file system, or the flash drive itself is broken.

Where did it come from?

Disk corruption can happen for many reasons. Perhaps you pulled out the drive while it was writing (didn't "Safely Eject" it), or the drive just took too many physical bumps, or static, or age, etc.

Perhaps check out this other SU question for related info: USB Stick, how to minimize risk of data corruption or data loss

How dangerous is it?

Not really "dangerous" at all. Ensure you have backups of your data and you should be fine.

Can I clean it?

Try a chkdsk and see if it can repair it. If you're not worried about the data, try formatting it.

Maybe also check out this SU question: How to fix corrupted filesystem (shows as RAW) in USB device?

Community
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Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
  • 113,841
2

I had similar problem. Run checkdisk to fix errors.

Right-click on thumbnail drive -> Properties -> Tools -> Error-checking Check now...

Diodak
  • 154