problem erasing files

[Spikey]

hi

I am trying to erase a usb stick that had some infected files on it, I scanned it and my antivirus program removed the infected files. I now have 4 folders on the stick but when i try to erase any of them the folders dissappear but another folder appears with a different name, usually just random letters, 3 of the folders are empty and the other has another folder in it with a long filename, when I try to delete this folder individually the same thing happens.

any advice appreciated

regards

Spikey

 

[DavidHB]

There is a sticky FAQ topic on erasing flash memory dives. The folder sounds like the one that contains the files Eraser uses to perform the erase, and this should be deleted by Eraser, but the process is failing in some way. There may be a problem with the file system on the drive. Were you just trying to delete (not erase) the folder?

My instinct would be to copy any files you wish to keep from the flash drive to somewhere safe (have your AV check the drive again, just to be sure), then format the flash drive and restore the data to it.

David

 

[Spikey]

There is a sticky FAQ topic on erasing flash memory dives. The folder sounds like the one that contains the files Eraser uses to perform the erase, and this should be deleted by Eraser, but the process is failing in some way. There may be a problem with the file system on the drive. Were you just trying to delete (not erase) the folder?

My instinct would be to copy any files you wish to keep from the flash drive to somewhere safe (have your AV check the drive again, just to be sure), then format the flash drive and restore the data to it.

David

hi David

I tried to delete the folders with eraser but this didn't work, the new folders kept appearing, I then deleted these folders normally so that the drive appeared to be empty then I erased unused space using eraser, I then checked the drive using Handy Recovery, data recovery software and it showed one folder on the drive, in this folder there were 8 files with random names, all of them were 0.21gb in size, so erasing the unused space didn't clear all the data, could these be the files eraser uses?

Spikey

 

[DavidHB]

Eraser (as it's name implies) erases, rather than just deletes. If you try to erase its erasing files, it will produce another set, as you found.These should be deleted, but something is obviously preventing this on your drive. Just delete (do not erase) the erasing files (which only contain random garbage) in Explorer, and all will probably be well.

David