The file or folder is damaged. Reading is impossible what to do

A number of users of PC hard disks and flash drives may face dysfunction of their devices and the corresponding message “File or folder is damaged. Reading is impossible. ” This is usually associated with damage to the file structure of the hard drive or flash drive, and requires immediate user intervention in order to recover lost data. In this article, I will tell you what to do if the error “File or folder is damaged. Reading is impossible ”, I will describe the reasons for the emergence of this problem, as well as outline ways to solve it.

“The file or folder is damaged. Reading is impossible "- causes of dysfunction

So, what could be the reasons for the “file or folder corrupted” error? I would single out the following factors:

• Damage to the file table (MFT or FAT), which contains all the information about files (size, date of creation, file access, etc.) on the disk (or flash drive). Violation of the integrity and structure of such a table leads to the described error, and the status of the problem disk under such conditions may change to RAW;
• Physical damage to the hard drive (flash drive). Various external shocks, moisture ingress, static electricity and other similar factors can partially or completely disable your disk or flash drive, which can cause, in particular, the appearance of the error "file or folder is damaged";

  

• Malignant effect of viral programs. Various malware on your PC can change the file structure of your hard disk or flash drive, making the latter unavailable to the user, and this will be another reason for the error “The file or folder is damaged. Reading is impossible ”;
• The USB flash drive was not safely removed from a PC or other device (especially when it was being written to at that time). Such an extraction can cause damage to the integrity and structure of files on it, which can also be the cause of the error “The file or directory is corrupted or unreadable”;
• The specific USB port to which an external flash drive is connected is inoperable;

• Insufficient density of connection of hard-drive cables to the corresponding connectors (or their damage).

After I listed the reasons for this dysfunction, we’ll proceed to the description of methods that will help us correct the error "0x87070570 file or folder damaged reading is impossible."

How to fix the error with a damaged folder and file when reading is not available

What tools can help us eliminate the error "File or folder is damaged?" Below I will list the tips, while sharing the tips separately for your hard drive and flash drive.

HDD

So, if you have a similar problem with a hard drive (or some file or folder on it), then do the following:

• Just restart your computer . If the problem was of an accidental nature, then it will disappear;
• Check the connection density of your hard disk loops to both the motherboard and the hard drive itself. Make sure that these cables are not damaged;
• Run the command prompt as administrator (click Start, type cmd in the search bar, the corresponding program will appear in the list of found programs, right click on it and select Run as administrator). In the command line that appears, type the command

chkdsk c: / f    and press enter.

Instead of the letter “c”, if necessary, put a drive letter on which you have problems;

• Use the sfc utility to restore the integrity of Windows OS system files . Run the command prompt again as administrator and type

sfc / scannow    and press enter.

• Check your PC for anti-virus programs (such Dr. Web CureIt!, Malware Anti-Malware and other similar tools will help);
• Use Partition Guru to restore file access. Download this program (for example, from here ), install it and run it. Select the problem disk, then click on the disk menu (Disk), there click on “Verify or Repair Bad Sectors” (Verify or Repair Bad Sectors) and wait until the partitions are scanned. After the end, the program will report how many problem sections were found, and whether it was possible to recover data from them.

  

Flash drive

So, how to fix the error “The file or folder is damaged. Reading is impossible ”when we are dealing with a flash drive. Do the following:

1. Try using a different USB connector on your PC (it is possible that the particular connector used may be damaged);
2. Try to read your flash drive on another computer;
3. Perform the procedure using the CHKDSK utility mentioned just above (when typing a command, specify the letter corresponding to your flash drive);
4. Check your flash drive for viruses using antivirus software;
5. Update drivers for your flash drive. To do this, go to the Device Manager (click Start, and in the search bar, enter devmgmgt.msc and press enter), find the "Disk devices" item and click on it. In the list that opens, find your flash drive, right-click on it and select "Update Driver";

   

6. Use the program to restore the contents of the flash drive (for example, R-Studio ). Download and install this software on your PC (I recommend to search for free variations on the network), insert the USB flash drive into the computer, and then run this program.

In the program menu, click on the flash drive, and then select the "Scan" option on the top. The contents of the drive will be scanned, and you will see a list of folders that can be restored (where there is a red cross - you can’t restore it anymore).

We tick the found folders to restore and click on “Restore Marked” and specify the directory where the recovered files will be placed. After recovery, I recommend copying the data to a safe place on the hard drive, and formatting the flash drive itself.

Conclusion

When analyzing problems, the error “File or folder is damaged. Reading is impossible ”should, first of all, make sure that there are no physical damages to the drives, and then use the capabilities of the chkdsk utility to check and repair damaged files. If the chkdks capabilities were not enough, then I recommend using the functionality of specialized programs (for example, the above-mentioned Partition Guru or R-Studio), which can help in restoring access to the lost files. If none of these tips helped you, then I recommend contacting your device to a service center - it is possible that your device needs repair or a complete replacement.

How do you rate the article?

( 57 ratings, average: 4.75 out of 5)

Loading...