Lost files in folders; and these folders can't be deleted

[fishboy]

Hello Forum,

i'm having problems with some folders on an external harddrive. when i look at the properties of those folders, they list as being empty. i can't find the files, but i think they are still taking up space. when i try to delete the files, the error message comes up "Access denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use."

i'm using Windows XP.
i've connected the hard drive to my home and school laptops to try and find the files, and to run chkdsk. i defragged the drive. i have also run spybot and adaware but i'm not sure if they scanned the external hard drive.

using pc inspector i wasn't able to find the missing files either.

i thought that this is more of an OS software problem, but please let me know if i should be posting this elsewhere.

thanks for your help and attention,
fishie

[what_the5846]

Try downloading and using product to get your files back:

Recuva

http://www.filehippo.com/download_recuva/

Just select the external hard drive and click scan. It will list all deleted files that are able to be recovered. If the files you want don't appear in the list then they haven't been deleted. Post back if this is the case.

[GretaP]

Hi fishboy,

Try taking ownership of the folders that are on the external hard drive. Once you've done that, see if the missing files now appear in any of those folders.

[fishboy]

GretaP,

thanks so much for the help. fixing the ownership brought all the missing files back. ¿do you know what may have caused an error like this? (i'm hoping to avoid this event in the future.) thanks again for your prompt reply.

fishie

[GretaP]

You're welcome

Perhaps the folders were saved to the external drive as Private while you were logged into a different Admin account than the account that you were logged into when you tried to retrieve them.