Possibly a difficult one....

Aiadi

Been trying to create a large (250GB) encrypted file using TrueCrypt on my external HD but after waiting till the end of the process I got the message that formatting had failed and no file was created. The free space on my HD is however reduced by the 250GB with no file showing even when I chose to "show hidden files and folders" in folder options. Nothing appearing on the HD and yet the disk space is gone. Anyone knows what's gone on?

JonnyThunder

One of two things i'd say. Either (1) you've saved it somewhere else or (2) your file has been turned into lost clusters.

In case of (1): do a search of your harddisk for files larger than 200mb. If it's in another folder, you'll soon spot it.

In case of (2): try to force a scandisk. Do this by double-clicking My Computer. Right-click C: drive and choose properties and Tools tab. Click Check Now... (under Error checking). Check both checkboxes and click start. Now reboot your PC and let the scan happen. If any lost clusters were found, they will be allocated back to the system in the form of junk files in the root of your C: drive.

Aiadi

Thanks Jonny. tried 1 and search didn't return any results (included search for hidden and non-indexed files). As for 2, I could not do it as the disk is actually one of these Nasty NAS drives and it doesn't seem to have the disk check or repair facility. I don't even know how to format the bl***y thing. Thanks anyway for you trying to help.

MyUserNamesTaken

The file's been turned into lost clusters. Run chkdsk on it from DOS. Open a dos window (start > run > cmd) from your main drive (probably c:) type chkdsk *: (the * represents the letter of the drive you want to check). It will then check the drive. It will show up bad sectors, etc. If there are problems, run chkdsk /f on it to correct the errors. You do this by switching to the drive in question (type in *: where * is the letter of the drive you want to fix), then type in chkdsk /f It will tell you that it needs to dismount the drive, type Y and hit enter. It will then check the disk and try to fix the errors. If that doesn't work, come back here and I'll run you through formatting the drive.

Aiadi

MyUserNamesTaken wrote: »

The file's been turned into lost clusters. Run chkdsk on it from DOS. Open a dos window (start > run > cmd) from your main drive (probably c:) type chkdsk *: (the * represents the letter of the drive you want to check). It will then check the drive. It will show up bad sectors, etc. If there are problems, run chkdsk /f on it to correct the errors. You do this by switching to the drive in question (type in *: where * is the letter of the drive you want to fix), then type in chkdsk /f It will tell you that it needs to dismount the drive, type Y and hit enter. It will then check the disk and try to fix the errors. If that doesn't work, come back here and I'll run you through formatting the drive.

Thank you. tried the chkdsk but got a message that I would need "elevated privilages" to run this command (I am using vista as an administrator!). I think that I have solved the problem by resetting the NAS drive using recovery button. I looked at the WD forums and it seems that these drives come preformatted using a proprietary format and can not be formated using FAT or NTFS. Hopefully won't need to do it again.:eek: