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The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable [Easy Fix]
8 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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The file or directory is corrupted and unreadableerror message can cause a lot of problems on your PC can prevent you from accessing certain files. However, there’s a way to fix this problem, and in this article, we’re going to show you what causes this error and how you can fix it on your PC.
Quite a few people have lost important data from their PCs due to hard drive errors. A common error on the Windows OS is the one that many will identify withThe file or directory is corrupted and unreadablepopup message.
The error prevents you from accessing, copying, renaming, or doing other things you may want to do with the files stored on a hard drive partition on your PC. You can encounter this error with other file storage devices likeexternal hard drives, USB thumb drives, removable hard disks, and flash memory cards.
What causes this error? How do yourecoveryour data? And, most importantly, how do you fix the error and prevent it from happening again?
What causesthe file or directory is corrupted and unreadableerror?
This error is usually a result of some form offile corruptionor damage to the external data storage devices on which the affected files are stored. Because of this you can’t access the files or do what you want with them. This is bad news if you have important data stored on the affected files.
But how do hard drives files get corrupted in the first place?
Corrupted MFT (Master File Table)
In most cases, this is a consequence of how you use and care for your hard drives. For one, pulling the external hard drive cable from the PC’s USB port before the computer is done copying a file, or while it executes some other command related to the external hard drive is known to corrupt your files.
Usually, it’s the MFT that’s corrupted. The MFT is part of the NFTS file system that handles file storage. It is where all file access permissions are granted and where information about file sizes and names, as well as where the creation and last edit times are recorded. Once this MFT is corrupted access to your files is blocked.
Make sure you have released the external storage devices from all the programs Windows may be running on them before you pull them from the PC. The safest way to eject external hard drives is by clicking on the drive icon on the Windows Explorer window.
Physical damage to the external hard drive
Sometimes the cause of hard drive failure and the subsequent ‘the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable’ error is physical damage to the external hard drive itself.
As you would any digital and mechanical devices that store important information, you should protect your external storage devices from moisture, dust, heat, and other forms of damage.
In the case of USB drives and removable disks, physical damage could take the form ofbad sectors, which are sections of the drive that are damaged to the extent they are no longer readable or writable. If file information was located on these now inaccessible bad sectors, retrieving the data becomes difficult, hence the error message.
Virus infection
This is the scariest of all the possible causes of the “The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable” error. Virus infection may, in fact, lead to consequences far more serious than the loss of your data. Today, there are many sources of virus infection that every computer user needs to be extra vigilant.
You could open your computer to virus infection through the websites you browse, files you download from the internet and portable storage drives that you connect to your PC. These viruses will often corrupt your file partitions,delete your data, and make unauthorized changes to your PC’s registry settings. All these could cause “the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable” error.
If you suspect the file corruption could be due to virus infection, get goodanti-virus softwareand scan your PC without delay. In some cases, the anti-virus PC clean-up could be all it takes to recover your inaccessible files.
Still, in some cases, only select partitions of an external hard drive could be generating the error message. The other partitions could be working just fine. This reduces the likelihood the error could be a result of virus infection or any physical damage to the hard drive.
How can I fixthe file or directory is corrupted and unreadable?
1. Format the flash drive
This is possibly the easiest solution to ‘the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable’ error. But it isn’t the most ideal.Formatting the hard drivesimply means you are erasing all the files stored on the hard drives.
By formatting the hard drive, you are also getting rid of whatever had corrupted your files in the first place. You can now start from a clean slate. But, clearly, this is not always a practical solution as the purpose of a hard drive is to store data that is useful to you. The last thing you may want is to get it all deleted.
To format the disk, follow these steps;
Formatting might be the quickest solution, but it will also remove all files from your drive, so you might want to think twice about using it. If you choose to format your drive, be sure to back up important files beforehand.
2. Use the Chkdsk Windows utility to repair file system errors
Using the Chkdsk command-line option to clean your hard drive disk usually solves the problem and helps yourecover your data. Issues the Chkdsk utility can help resolve include directory errors, lost clusters, and cross-linked files.
3. Use a third-party software
The prospect of losing data will drive most people into a panic. But before you do that, try using the Stellar Data Recovery Software.
Stellar Data Recovery is a very powerful tool, and it can help you recover any type of lost document: email, photos, or videos.
You can basically recover your lost data regardless of the storage type: hard drive, SSD, memory card, USB drive, and even RAW storage drive.
If you want to know more about this tool, just check out ourdetailed Stellar Data Recovery review. You’ll see whether it is worth the money or not.
Moreover, let’s have a look at some of the includedkey features:
⇒Get Stellar Data Recovery
4. Reinstall Windows
There are exceptional cases where the local drive C is the one generating the error message. Ordinarily, if Drive C, which is the system drive, gets corrupted, your PC should stop working. It shouldn’t boot using the normal Windows startup.
But if a file on drive C gives ‘The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable’ error and the PC does not stop working, the Chkdsk utility rarely resolves the issue. The one option you have is to reinstall your Windows OS. This should, of course, be the last resort after all other options have been explored.
The prospect of losing access to your precious data is terrifying. But in most cases, there is no need to panic as the fix is usually an easy one. The few we have discussed here should get you working with your machine in perfect harmony again in no time.
More about the topics:Fix corrupt files,windows 10 fix
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.
