How come I can't delete folders off my external hard drive?

AppleMacFinder · Nov 15, 2012

rockizza08 said:
I'm trying this Disk Drill Data Recovery Software I found in this website.
Been running for 12 minutes now, so I'm just waiting if something good will happen.
Yes, I found Recuva, because I panicked and cried a lot. Only problem is it's for Windows.
Thank you though. Will it really help me recover 250GB of files?
Because I really can't lose all those original HQ pictures.. :'(

Yes, it could recover. Maybe not all, but most of the files - but it depends on how bad the things are.
For best results, you could try both "yours" and "mine" applications to see which results are better.
Recuva is a Windows only, but does a great job.

rockizza08 · Nov 15, 2012

AppleMacFinder said:
Yes, it could recover. Maybe not all, but most of the files - but it depends on how bad the things are.
For best results, you could try both "yours" and "mine" applications to see which results are better.
Recuva is a Windows only, but does a great job.

Hopefully I'll be able to recover all the files..
I'll do that tomorrow. I don't have a Windows computer, so I'll borrow.
Thanks for your help.

I still don't understand how ALL THE FILES got deleted..

AppleMacFinder · Nov 15, 2012

rockizza08 said:
I still don't understand how ALL THE FILES got deleted..

When the file system becomes corrupted, the part of information about
the placement of files on the hard drive is lost - but the files could be alive and healthy! That is why
you could not "see" the files (records about files) while browsing on file system with file manager (e.g. Finder)

rockizza08 · Nov 15, 2012

AppleMacFinder said:
When the file system becomes corrupted, the part of information about
the placement of files on the hard drive is lost - but the files could be alive and healthy! That is why
you could not "see" the files (records about files) while browsing on file system with file manager (e.g. Finder)

Okay thanks.
The Disk Drill is finally showing my files. Mostly pictures.
It is really taking forever. It's been 4 hours and 45 minutes!
And only 1.41% of all the files was scanned.

AppleMacFinder · Nov 15, 2012

rockizza08 said:
Okay thanks.
The Disk Drill is finally showing my files. Mostly pictures.
It is really taking forever. It's been 4 hours and 45 minutes!
And only 1.41% of all the files was scanned.

Glad to hear this!

I hope you successfully recover most (if not all) of your files.

After that, do a full reformat of the hard drive, and then check for errors:
it is needed to determine if that was just a software-related accident
(not a hardware one) and the hard drive could be used again.

rockizza08 · Nov 15, 2012

AppleMacFinder said:
Glad to hear this! I hope you successfully recover most (if not all) of your files.

After that, do a full reformat of the hard drive, and then check for errors:
it is needed to determine if that was just a software-related accident
(not a hardware one) and the hard drive could be used again.

I know! I thought I really lost my files! I hope so too..
Yes, I will. Thanks so much for all your help.

By the way, I can pause/stop the scan and continue again right?
Cause it's getting late here, and I have school tomorrow.

rockizza08 · Nov 15, 2012

AppleMacFinder said:
After that, do a full reformat of the hard drive, and then check for errors:
it is needed to determine if that was just a software-related accident
(not a hardware one) and the hard drive could be used again.

Btw, I have another problem..
I don't know where I can transfer the files I will recover from this scan.
Like I said in my previous post, I have about 250GB of files on that external hard drive.
My laptop is too full for that large size.
Hmm..

AppleMacFinder · Nov 15, 2012

rockizza08 said:
Btw, I have another problem..
I don't know where I can transfer the files I will recover from this scan.
Like I said in my previous post, I have about 250GB of files on that external hard drive.
My laptop is too full for that large size.
Hmm..

1 TB external hard drive with USB 3.0 and nice external design could be bought for $100 or less.

rockizza08 · Nov 17, 2012

AppleMacFinder said:
1 TB external hard drive with USB 3.0 and nice external design could be bought for $100 or less.

That is really expensive for someone like me. :| But thanks.
Btw, I'm not sure if you know..
But can I still save scan info after the whole Wondershare Data Recovery scan is over?
Because I don't have a new drive to save the files I've recovered. Thank you.

AppleMacFinder · Nov 17, 2012

rockizza08 said:
That is really expensive for someone like me. :| But thanks.
Btw, I'm not sure if you know..
But can I still save scan info after the whole Wondershare Data Recovery scan is over?
Because I don't have a new drive to save the files I've recovered. Thank you.

It is strongly advised to save files on another physical drive.
Because, when you recover some files, they could accidentally
overwrite some other deleted files (which weren't recovered yet),
and you will lose some recoverable files this way.
Hope my comment is not late.

In case you don't have space to restore the whole set of files to each single computer,
you can restore by parts to different computers. If it is not possible as well,
you could use some online backups (e.g. Mediafire)

rockizza08 · Nov 17, 2012

AppleMacFinder said:
It is strongly advised to save files on another physical drive.
Because, when you recover some files, they could accidentally
overwrite some other deleted files (which weren't recovered yet),
and you will lose some recoverable files this way.
Hope my comment is not late.

In case you don't have space to restore the whole set of files to each single computer,
you can restore by parts to different computers. If it is not possible as well,
you could use some online backups (e.g. Mediafire)

Yeah, that's what I thought too. Just get a new physical drive to be sure.
But what if I save the recovered files on the same drive, once the scanning and recovering is done?
Do you think that would be okay?

AppleMacFinder · Nov 18, 2012

rockizza08 said:
Yeah, that's what I thought too. Just get a new physical drive to be sure.
But what if I save the recovered files on the same drive, once the scanning and recovering is done?
Do you think that would be okay?

Yes, it should be safe to put them back after the recovery.
But, before that, don't forget to reformat this drive and check for errors:
to make sure there is no hardware problem and it could be used.

rockizza08 · Nov 18, 2012

AppleMacFinder said:
Yes, it should be safe to put them back after the recovery.
But, before that, don't forget to reformat this drive and check for errors:
to make sure there is no hardware problem and it could be used.

Alright, thanks so much!

The Wondershare Data Recovery seemed to have a problem.
I waited for hours for the scan to resume, but it never did, and still won't. :|

AppleMacFinder · Nov 18, 2012

rockizza08 said:
Alright, thanks so much!

The Wondershare Data Recovery seemed to have a problem.
I waited for hours for the scan to resume, but it never did, and still won't. :|

Try Recuva on PC computer, it never failed me.

rockizza08 · Nov 18, 2012

AppleMacFinder said:
Try Recuva on PC computer, it never failed me.

Okay I will. Will my files have their original file names?
Cause on this Wondershare, it shows the original folders and names.

AppleMacFinder · Nov 18, 2012

rockizza08 said:
Okay I will. Will my files have their original file names?
Cause on this Wondershare, it shows the original folders and names.

Honestly, I don't know. If it doesn't, maybe you could try some other utility,
that both works and gets the original file names.

rockizza08 · Nov 18, 2012

AppleMacFinder said:
Honestly, I don't know. If it doesn't, maybe you could try some other utility,
that both works and gets the original file names.

You don't remember when you used it before?
I don't know any other utilities that works on a Mac. :|

AppleMacFinder · Nov 18, 2012

rockizza08 said:
You don't remember when you used it before?
I don't know any other utilities that works on a Mac. :|

Well, last time I used it didn't preserve the filenames,
but the filesystem was in quite bad condition, so I cannot tell for sure.

Check this Wikipedia article, it contains the information about lots of data recovery software (Mac and PC).

P.S. Similar lists could be found for other types of software as well.
Faster to find the necessary software than just using pure Google.

rockizza08 · Nov 18, 2012

AppleMacFinder said:
Well, last time I used it didn't preserve the filenames,
but the filesystem was in quite bad condition, so I cannot tell for sure.

Check this Wikipedia article, it contains the information about lots of data recovery software (Mac and PC).

P.S. Similar lists could be found for other types of software as well.
Faster to find the necessary software than just using pure Google.

Alright, thank you so much!
FileSalvage is the only one for Mac, other than Disk Drill.
Which is the one I'm also using right now. But it doesn't recover original file names.

luckystriked · Apr 16, 2013

Hi,

I'm sorry for retrieving this thread but I have the same problem... I have two folders which I can't delete. I erased them from a NTFS external hard drive but now my trash won't empty. Any suggestions?

termarreason · Mar 25, 2016

rockizza08 said:
I have a 1tb WD external hard drive, and it was working fine using it with my MacBook Pro, until a friend of mine used it to copy a movie file from that WD external hard drive, and plugged it in her Sony VAIO laptop. I copied another movie stored in a folder from her. And when I moved the folder to my "Movies" folder, it just made a copy. I tried deleting the original folder by dragging it to Thrash but it won't delete the folder. Right after I drag it into the Thrash, it says "Finder requires that you type your password". I do that, but it still doesn't delete the folder. I'm afraid this is what's gonna happen to every folder I copy. Please help me. I don't have a place to move/transfer 300GB of files, pictures, etc. Thank you so much in advance.

[doublepost=1458965219][/doublepost]Probably because its formatted for a windows computer?

Dave Uc · Apr 17, 2017

rockizza08 said:
No there isn't any. :| Just "You can read and write"

I have a WD external hard disk with MSDOS FAT32 format connected to my Macbook Air.
I moved some files to the trashcan, but couldn't empty them from trash.

On my Mac, I went to Finder / Permissions.
Chose Advanced icon
unchecked the box next to Empty Trash Securely

then "Voila!" I can now empty the Trash

How come I can't delete folders off my external hard drive?

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