External HDD not showing folders

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LeroyHarr

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Hello,

I have a bit of a problem with my Western Digital 1TB External HDD.

When I go to My Computer/Elements(H:) it does not show any of the data that is on the drive. It shows that space is being taken up and there isn't a problem with Windows not picking it up. I can't access any of the files on it directly, but I can access them because I have a shortcut on my desktop to the folders in it.

Does anyone know what the problem is? Could it be that the HDD needed to be formatted before being used for the first time?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My computer's stats are: Windows 7 Home Edition, 64bit. Latest updates on all drivers, service pack 1. I have 3 other drives on my computer and they all work perfectly well.

If you need any more info, please ask.

Thanks for your time!

-Leroy
 
Yeah all of that has been checked. All seem to match settings of the other drives. I should mention that a little while ago I opened the drive and all the files and folders were there but they all had .exe file extensions.
 
Last edited:
NomNom said:
Your Pc is infected with viruses, read my blog post here: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/entry.php/1745-Virus-Removal-For-The-Average-Pc-User

Otherwise try this: Right click the drive > Properties > Tools > Error-checking > Check now... > Start
Click to expand...

Right, before I do the Virus scanning side of thing I decided to do the Error Checking. It told me that there were errors and that they have been fixed. I then clicked on the HDD and 2 objects were there.

1. $AVG - $VAULT -

Files inside were:
V_00000028.fil
V_00000029.fil
V_00000030.fil
V_00000032.fil
V_00000033.fil
vvfolder.idx (SQL Server Replication Snapshot Index Script)
All of the above files were dated for 2009(This HDD was purchased in 2011)

2. Desktop.exe

When this process was complete, Bitdefender popped up and said that it had detected a virus. This virus was deleted and then all of a sudden the desktop.exe was gone. Only the AVG was there. Now I don't use AVG on my PC and NEVER will.

So a virus? I will Use your BLOG method. Seems to be quite thorough.
 
Yep. Your external contains a virus. The folders that you are looking for are there but hidden(as system files). Here is how to retrieve them:
1. Open the external on your desktop.
2. Click Start button on the taskbar, type "Folder Options"(without the " ") in the search box and when results show up click on Folder Options.
3. Select the View tab and under Advanced Settings select 'Show Hidden Files' and deselect(untick) 'Hide Protected Operating System Files'. Apply and Ok.
Now the folders in the external and their contents should now be visible.
To get the folders and files in the external back to the way they should be (unhidden), you have to remove their 'Hidden' and 'System' attributes, which you can do using the Command Prompt(type cmd in search to open Command Prompt). Just type 'Attrib help' or is it 'help attrib' for more info(don't worry its fairly easy to understand).
You should get your files and folders back to their original state in no time, but don't forget to clean your computer from the offending virus and also to put back the 'Hide protected operating system...' back to how it was.
 
I am stuck at part 3. All of a sudden it wont keep my setting of "show hidden folders". It keeps showing that none of the options are selected???

I am very confused. I have scanned the drive as mentioned above. I am by no means a computer noob, I have removed the ugliest of ugly trojans but this one just throws me down.

I am lost... completely.

Windows... eh?
 
Okay, this is what I have done so far with the

3. Select the View tab and under Advanced Settings select 'Show Hidden Files' and deselect(untick) 'Hide Protected Operating System Files'. Apply and Ok.

I typed this into CMD

C:\Users\Leroy>H:

H:\>ATTRIB -s -h -r /S /D
Access denied - H:\$RECYCLE.BIN\S-1-5-18
Access denied - H:\$RECYCLE.BIN\S-1-5-21-1048164742-3681229643-82823766-1000
Access denied - H:\$RECYCLE.BIN\S-1-5-21-3394713395-345776750-4214626527-1000
 
i have the same virus. Its dam near impossable to get rid of. Files keep becoming hidden and an .exe file is created in their place. next step is launch your internet browser an see if the virus allows you to load antivirus websites like avast. Bet it wont.
 
He-Man said:
i have the same virus. Its dam near impossable to get rid of. Files keep becoming hidden and an .exe file is created in their place. next step is launch your internet browser an see if the virus allows you to load antivirus websites like avast. Bet it wont.
Click to expand...

Sounds like yours is a bit more serious than mine. Does anybody have any Idea what the above attributes mean?
 
This is what comes up on CMD

C:\Users\Leroy>cd\

C:\>attrib
A C:\AsCD.log
A C:\bdlog.txt
A H C:\bdr-conf
A H C:\bdrescue
A H C:\bdrescue.gz
A H C:\bdrescue.mbr
A H C:\bdrescue.vm
A C:\debugInstaller.txt
A C:\eula.1028.txt
A C:\eula.1031.txt
A C:\eula.1033.txt
A C:\eula.1036.txt
A C:\eula.1040.txt
A C:\eula.1041.txt
A C:\eula.1042.txt
A C:\eula.2052.txt
A C:\eula.3082.txt
A C:\globdata.ini
A SH I C:\hiberfil.sys
A C:\install.exe
A C:\install.ini
A C:\install.res.1028.dll
A C:\install.res.1031.dll
A C:\install.res.1033.dll
A C:\install.res.1036.dll
A C:\install.res.1040.dll
A C:\install.res.1041.dll
A C:\install.res.1042.dll
A C:\install.res.2052.dll
A C:\install.res.3082.dll
A SH C:\pagefile.sys
A C:\rkill.log
A C:\vcredist.bmp
A C:\VC_RED.cab
A C:\VC_RED.MSI
A C:\VS_EXPBSLN_x64_enu.CAB
A C:\VS_EXPBSLN_x64_enu.MSI

What is this install.exe? I'm not too keen about that being there.
 
I have managed to figure out what the problem is, but still need help getting rid of or fixing it. I do believe it is a virus.

I have unhidden my system files and folders and now all my files and folder are shown, but transparent. I scanned with an antivirus but nothing was detected.

I checked the properties of some of the folders and they were set to hidden. I wanted to unhide them but this option was grayed out.

What next?

I really need some serious help.
 
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