the contents of one of my folders seems corrupt

[td212]

i'm using windows xp and the folder is in a maxtor external harddrive

The image on the left is what the folders turned into. the little one on the left is what i get when i try to delete them. I've run mcafee virus scan and ad aware and windows defender.

I've never had this problem before. I can't open the files nor can i delete them. Anyone have any clue?

[lynx]

It certainly sounds like the drive is corrupt.

Try running chkdsk -
Start/Run/"chkdsk x: /F"
where x is the drive letter.

If the folder is corrupt it may recover the files as FILE0001.CHK, FILE0002.CHK etc.

You would have to work out for yourself what the original filenames were.

If you've got space I'd advise moving any apparently non-corrupted files to another disk first, then check the contents.

[td212]

I ran check disk and it found some errors it turned the folder into a file that my computer wont open. When i look up the properties it says the file type is file. It's only 32kb but it still seems to taking up all the space it did before when it was 115 gb.

Is there a way I can delete all that or will i need to reformat that drive?

Also is my whole harddrive gonna start slowly corrupting? Should I be on the look out for a new one?

[lynx]

It just sounds to me like some sort of corruption, it doesn't sound like drive failure.

Back up what you can, then reformat the drive.

Always make sure you release the drive properly (using Safely Remove Hardware) before disconnecting the drive.