Missing files on hard drive

[ronton]

Hi, I just turned on my computer and suddenly some of my programs couldn't open due to missing files?
I just got a new hard drive maybe like 6 months ago?
This is not the first time it had happened to me before. The first time it happened, I got a refurbished WD Green HD so I thought it was just the hard drive that was dying on me since it was refurbished. So I bought a new one, a WD Black one.
I also have an SSD, which is fine. The SSD is set as the main drive, "C".

I install most of my music, games, and programs on the WD Black one which is on drive E.
And only the files from the E drive is missing.
For example: I install all my steam games to E, and now they are all gone from the library. And now I'm reinstalling all the games to my E drive again.

Did I set up or build my computer wrong? This is really frustrating because all my files become corrupt within a span of 6 months or so.

Thanks for your help



CPU: i5 2500k
Mobo: Gigabyte Z68MA

 

[phil22]

You may have had bad luck with a faulty drive again, but you don't have to "guess" that it's a bad drive as you can test it. Download WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostic for Windows from here and install it on the SSD (you must not install it on the drive you want to test): http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=613&sid=3&lang=en

If the WD software has a Long or Extended test, choose that one.

 

[popatim]

How are you shutting off the pc?

 

[ronton]

You may have had bad luck with a faulty drive again, but you don't have to "guess" that it's a bad drive as you can test it. Download WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostic for Windows from here and install it on the SSD (you must not install it on the drive you want to test): http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=613&sid=3&lang=en

If the WD software has a Long or Extended test, choose that one.

Thank you for that, I just ran that and the drive was healthy, and passed the smart test.

Popatim: I'm just shutting it down normally, with the start menu and shut down.



Hmmm, okay something weird just happened now. So on my E drive, I created a Program Files (x86) or whatever because the C drive had one.
And I just noticed that everything from that Program Files(x86) is deleted and gone.
But my music/videos and other files that weren't in that file was still there.
Could that be the culprit?
(I don't know why I created a Program Files(x86) on E)

 

[johnnyq1233]

If you're installing games to drive E then they will be put in "E:\program files (x86)....
So don't delete this folder as it contains your game(s)...

 

[ronton]

If you're installing games to drive E then they will be put in "E:\program files (x86)....
So don't delete this folder as it contains your game(s)...

I didn't delete it. It just automatically disappeared.
I was just wondering if I wasn't supposed to create a file called Program Files (x86) which could have messed everything up.
Because everything else on the hard drive was okay, just that one particular file.

 

[popatim]

virus?

 

[ronton]

I'm using AVG Anti Virus free. Ran a scan, nothing.
Any other recommendations?

 

[treadlightly]

popatim may have something there.

I wrangle viruses all the time, and have successfully disinfected computers that nobody else could repair. There are infections that can delete files, so at this point, if I were you, I would stop everything and scan your computer.

I would start with the AntiVir Rescue Disk, which you can download for free from http://www.avira.com/en/download/product/avira-antivir-rescue-system. Get the .exe version, which will, when you execute it, create a bootable CD or DVD. Boot your computer from this disk and follow the instructions. It will start a Linux session so that your computer is totally isolated from Windows, which may be damaged or disabled by the infection. You will need to tell the Rescue program what video mode to use, because it doesn't know ... if in doubt, select a video mode that any computer could display, such as 800 x 600 or something.

After the program loads, look along the left side of the display and you will find a tab to change the program's behavior. By default, it will scan your drive(s) for infections but not delete any files. Change that so that it deletes every infected file it finds. Otherwise, this program, which can take *hours* to run anyway, will take even more hours to run, and I have yet to see a file that it shouldn't have deleted.

An alternative rescue system is available from Kaspersky, and it's good, too. https://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/rescuedisk/main.

Having run either or both of these rescue systems, it is also important to scan your computer for the software that sent you the infection in the first place. For that, I recommend that you reboot your computer in Safe Mode and run Spybot - Search & Destroy®, which is also free, and you can find at http://www.safer-networking.org/.

Finally, it doesn't hurt to have the latest update for Windows Defender and let it do a full system scan, too. I have disinfected a lot of computers, and on at least one occasion, had Windows Defender find a malware source that none of the other tools found.

ronton, and any other users interested in how to disinfect a computer, this process takes *hours*. Some infections and the malicious apps that supplied them are very difficult to remove, but I am here to tell you that it *can* be done, and I know how. Which is better: Spend hours fixing the problem, or buy a new computer and get infected all over again?

Maybe this post should be duplicated elsewhere, I don't know, because if anyone wants to know how to disinfect a computer, I am the one to ask, and that's a promise.

 

[ronton]

Thank you, I ran spybot search and destroy and there were a couple of items that it caught. Should I "purge" all of them?

 

[treadlightly]

It is difficult for me to advise you concerning SpyBot detections unless you tell me what they are. As a general rule, you can simply tell SpyBot to delete everything it found. It won't detect well-known safe programs or critical Windows files, for example, but something you installed may stop working ... and in my experience, that's always a good thing!

I would be interested to know whether the detection was of a virus, a Trojan, adware, or a PUP (possibly unwanted program). That information would help me guess as to whether SpyBot can solve your problem.

In the meantime, don't be afraid to let SpyBot delete what it found (after you write down what it tells you, of course, and relay it to me here). In the very unlikely event that it disables a program you want to keep, you can simply reinstall it.

Also, please don't forget to also run any antivirus you may have on hand and Windows Defender as well. When disinfecting a computer, I never use just one tool, but a whole box full.