Windows 10: USB folder changed to gibberish name and cannot be accessed

Discus and support USB folder changed to gibberish name and cannot be accessed in Windows 10 Software and Apps to solve the problem; I got some of the files and folders on my USB flash drive changed to gibberish name with date modified in the future such as 2079 and now I cannot... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Software and Apps' started by Bing Shao bingshao, Jul 6, 2023.

  1. BING SHAO BINGSHAO
    Bing Shao bingshao Win User

    USB folder changed to gibberish name and cannot be accessed


    I got some of the files and folders on my USB flash drive changed to gibberish name with date modified in the future such as 2079 and now I cannot access them cannot open, copy or delete. When I tried cmd window, it says the target of the symbolic link does not exist. Recovery software cannot find them. Tried to check for error didn't tell me anything wrong.Any way to recover my files/folders?Thank you very much for your help.

    :)
     
    Bing Shao bingshao, Jul 6, 2023
    #1
  2. RHINOCAN
    RhinoCan Win User

    The folder names on my external hard drive have turned to gibberish

    I have a nearly new portable external hard drive which is organized into 30 or 40 folders, each with further files in it. The names of the folders on this hard drive have turned to gibberish and I have no idea how to fix this problem. Here is a screen cap showing the problem:

    USB folder changed to gibberish name and cannot be accessed 2424t-folder-names-my-external-hard-drive-have-turned-gibberish-2017-05-27_foldernames_gibberish.png


    For what it's worth the folder names are also gibberish when I view them from a command prompt. And here's what happens if I click on one of the folders to see what's in it:


    USB folder changed to gibberish name and cannot be accessed 42540t-folder-names-my-external-hard-drive-have-turned-gibberish-2017-05-27_foldernames_unusable.png


    I've tried running Avast and MalwareBytes scans but they don't find anything wrong.

    Is there anything I can do to repair my folder names and access the files once again?

    I've only had the external hard drive a few weeks.
     
    RhinoCan, Jul 6, 2023
    #2
  3. JAMESLOEWENSTEIN
    JamesLoewenstein Win User
    Gibberish or question marks (?) in some folder and file names

    The File Explorer windows 10 on my Lenovo Laptop shows at least one folder with music files in which the folder and file names appear in Greek/gibberish characters. Some pdf file names appear as question marks within a diamond shape! Most probably originally
    all these have Hebrew names. There may be additional (Hebrew?) folders/files with the name problem, which I did not yet come through. In contrast, some other pdf and music files are OK/readable.

    The language setting is English by default with Hebrew language pack.

    I have screened the Internet and tried out all kinds of changes in language settings (among which for UNI-code and non-Unicode programs), have made a restore and uninstall restore, to check whether this occurred due to an update; added/replaced the Windows
    fonts; etc., etc., but to no avail.

    Perhaps someone may suggest another and working solution.

    Thanks, James
     
    JamesLoewenstein, Jul 6, 2023
    #3
  4. TOPGUNDCP
    topgundcp Win User

    USB folder changed to gibberish name and cannot be accessed

    Unable to delete a folder - Invalid folder name


    Suggestion:
    1. Run chkdsk x: /r to make sure that there's no HD corruption.
      x: is the drive containing the folder you want to delete.
    2. Try to delete the folder again. If still does not work, go to step 3.
    3. Download: Download - Linux Mint and create a bootable USB using: Rufus - Create bootable USB
    4. Boot up with Linux Mint and try to delete the folder again.
      NOTE: Unlike WinPE. Linux does not have any Windows permission imposed to it so it is easier to delete.
     
    topgundcp, Jul 6, 2023
    #4
Thema:

USB folder changed to gibberish name and cannot be accessed

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