SanDisk Copy Error -The directory or file cannot be created.

[/b]My son has a 1GB SanDisk Sansa Model M240. Until today, was able to drag and drop MP3's from computer, no problem.

Now we get the error, "Cannot Copy 13 - Jim Morrison - Roadhouse Blues: The directory or file cannot be created." Same error occurs when I try to copy any file. The computer reports that the Removable Drive has 992 MB Capacity, 463 MB used, 528 MB free. 116 files.

What to do? I've searched the internet, and the only thing I found was someone complaining in a review of the unit that they had this problem. No solutions.

Appreciate the help. I will probally just format the thing and start over. But if it happens again, then the answer will be out there for us and others.

Thanks in advance.

Reply to maxman

I deleted a couple few tunes, and was able to copy a file to the unit. Is there a limit to the number of MP3 files even though the device reports not full?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to maxman

go to my computer

right click on your device that is connected

click format (full format)

then click fat 32 full erase (to do this it must be on a windows xp system)

i did this and have had no problems then on

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Reply to tom5002

Hi,

I had the same problem when copying to a mmc drive on my pc, and it seems that you cannot have more than x files under the root folder. I created some folders and I copied everything fine. So if you can create folders on your SanDisk you should be able to drag and drop there easily.

Lausus

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to lausus

The root folder is the culprit on this one. My advice is to add tracks like so
Artist>>Album>>SONG.mp3

I had the same trouble and was pissed at first till i figured that crap out.

Reply to xxenclavexx

tom5002 suggestion worked the best. I could only fill my 1gb Hip Street MP3 player to 63% capacity. I planned to take it back for a replacement, but figured I would try tom5002 suggestion since I had nothing to lose.
I copied all the files from the player onto a folder on the desktop. Formatted the drive by right clicking the drive from my computer, and selecting format, it took a few seconds. Then I copied all the files back onto the mp3 player. I can now fill the mp3 player to full capacity with no problems
Thanks tom5002!

Reply to spiderhunter

Lausus is right about the root folder issue. My friend just had this problem with her 1GB Creative Zen Nano. We found this thread, and we put files into subfolders and the issue was cleared up immediately.

Reply to Becks66

Hello all I have a question........

I'm having the same problem with my same mp3 player......I tried re-formatting it as some of you have said but once I got to the same point of having 300 MB of space left, the thing started doing it again and flashing that message!!!!!

My computer runs on Windows Millenium so any tips to fix this problem?? Many thanks to those who lend a hand......

Reply to bigman208

Off topic I know sorry.

Ah another member with good taste in a avatar photo. Nice choice Boondock Saints awesome flic. I actually remember being the only one who had heard of it after it came out on video and now it has gotten so popular.

Oh and to bigman208 the only suggestion I have is dump Windows Mellinium.

Reply to biohazard420420

can people send me free motorola v3x games or software as i have helped u

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to tom5002

I connected my Sansa mp3 player to my computer with the USB cord, then if I clicked on "My Computer" and then clicked on the Sansa player to open a new window for the player and its contents -

At the top of the window - choose "folder options" and then check the box in the list to allow viewing of hidden files. Now your list of files for the Sansa will include a MUSIC folder. Drag your music files into this folder and you will be able to add the maximum amount.

The files that were just dropped to the device were being copied to the root directory and that had reached capacity - that's why you were getting the error message.

Reply to marzidoatz

Tom5002 is right on. Format your disk for FAT32 and the problem disappears. I didn't have the luxury of creating folders as the USB drive is plugging into a digital picture frame which is reading the drive for a slide show.

Thanks for everyones comments. This is a great forum.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to cbalogh05

I agree Tom5002 is right!!!! I am using a 2gb sandisk micro sd card with an adapter in my built in card reader on my desk top. Had the same problem. I had tried several time to format with FAT (no 32) which did not work. Tried FAT32 and walla!!! It works now except the total space on card is still 1.83 gb instead of 2 but I can live with that. Thanks TOM !! Now I can put the card in my Samsung High Note phone and listen to 300 songs I have loaded and still have almost 500mb free!!

Reply to high note

i HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH ERROR "CANNOT COPY" AFTER REACHING ABOUT 65% ON MY usb DRIVE. i WAS VERY DISSAPOINTED THINKING i WOULD HAVE TO RESCAN CLOSE TO 200 PICS! i TOOK tOM5002 ADVICE AND REFORMATED MY DRIVE, (fAT 32!) ,...and bingo! wORKS LIKE A CHAMP! tHANKS A MILLION tOM!

Reply to Anonymous

Hi all, my daughter got a Sansa Clip on Xmas Eve. Trying to copy music files (mp3) to the disk I got an error message, "cannot copy ("file" ) - The device has either stopped responding or has been disconnected". However, says ays "Connected" in the Clip display, and I am able to locate the Sandisk on My Computer (XP).

What could be the problem?

I had the same problem with a USB memory stick, and a friend of mine had the same problem with a mobile (cell) phone.

Formatting could solve the problem, but then all files on the Sansa Clip disappears, including the FM Player, and I suppose it is not possible to re-install the FM Player once you have formatted the Sansa Clip to FAT32 (?)... :-(

Cheers,

Bengt Stenstrom, Sweden

Reply to bsten

I had the same error message. once I reformatted to fat 32 the problem went away. thanks for your help.
georwc

Reply to georwc

When formatting, there are no options for fat32 etc, though I have Windows XP. XP just forma

Reply to bsten

When formatting, there are no options for fat32 etc, though I have Windows XP. XP just formats to "Generic Hierarchical" system. How do I format to fat32?

And once formatted, how do you play the music files (since all the original files are gone)??

bs

Reply to bsten

Tom5002's solution does indeed work for fixing disks (mini, memory sticks, microsd's, etc.) which won't load files to their full capacity. 1) Go to My Computer, 2) find the disk you want to maximize capacity for, 3) right click on that disk, 4) left click on Format..., 5) change the file system from FAT to FAT32, 6) accept that this will erase all data on the disk by pressing OK. Done.

Reply to Swans343

Thanks Tom. Should I do this with each new ScanDisk?

Reply to Anonymous

Yeh i would i havent been here in ages, if the option of fat32 isnt avaliable its cause ur disk is to large but fat or 16 will work just fine

Reply to tom5002

bsten, format erasers the drive but there is some software avaliable to recover the data, best to save it elsewhere before

Reply to tom5002

i was kicked off here for a previous post regarding v3x that's why i couldn't respond till well now but i came back from the dead and saw people were grateful so im back in black!

Reply to tom5002

the root folder solution worked for me.
at first i tried formatting it, no use, reformat again, didn't work either. i even went back to the store and replaced the mp4 with a new one, hehe it seems they didn't know it was that easy to solve

Reply to jin4131

when i try to for mat it it says sufficient previllges

Reply to Anonymous

my ployer mini mp3 player has the same problem '' the directory or file can not be created. i dont know what happened but all songs are gone from mp3player.now what to do ? is formatting can solve the problem ? if yes then after formatting there is any need of loading any softwares or programmes to run my mp3 player ? plz help me its urgent

Reply to rakesh_soni31

Hi, I need to format my MicroSD card for my R4DS.

Problem is, no matter what I do, the max size will just be reduced from 2 GB to 1.83 GB!
I need ALL space on it, what can I do?

Thanks!

Reply to R4DSMicro

tom5002 wrote :

go to my computer

right click on your device that is connected

click format (full format)

then click fat 32 full erase (to do this it must be on a windows xp system)

i did this and have had no problems then on

Thank you, thank you! After having this problem I googled "'' the directory or file can not be created." This forum was first on the list. Your suggestion fixed the problem.

Reply to Anonymous

for those who cant set format to fat32:
1-Turn on ur device
2-Go to settings
3-Look for USB mode
4-Set USB mode to MSC
now u can format ur device and set fat32

Reply to krasnirex

tom5002 wrote :

go to my computer

right click on your device that is connected

click format (full format)

then click fat 32 full erase (to do this it must be on a windows xp system)

i did this and have had no problems then on

Worked very very well! But I had to uninstall a software, USB SAFELY REMOVE first, because it kept on removing the card reader and so the format wouldn't complete. After uninstalling USB Safely Remove, I did Tom5002's solution, reinstalled USB Safely Remove, and am very very happy now. I copy a lot of ebooks and audiobooks and songs and would get frustrated when copying stops at only around 400mb, when the capacity is 2gb. I am glad this was the first forum when i googled the problem,, ,,

Reply to maryannks

Did a little research as i was a little confused whether i should format as fat32 or if i should put files in a folder instead of on root folder. Just wanna clear this up to anyone who was wondering.

Either one works, it's just that fat (fat16) has a certain amount of entries you can put in the root folder. Fat32 gets rid of this problem, so you could either keep the FAT16 and just put all your stuff in folders, or format to fat32 and put files in root. FAT32 is better though if you can because it allocates disk space better.

Here's an article that sums it all up, gives further definition if i didn't explain it.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc940351.aspx

Message edited by Anonymous on 09-08-2009 at 07:40:09 AM

Reply to Anonymous

tom5002 wrote :

go to my computer

right click on your device that is connected

click format (full format)

then click fat 32 full erase (to do this it must be on a windows xp system)

i did this and have had no problems then on

Hi Tom. It just says FAT32 and I cant delete or change .There is nothing in the drop down

Reply to grahamrobb

I may have asked for the wrong info....Here is my problem
Bought a new car which has a USB plug
I have put music on to memory stik
When I go to play it in the car it just says FORMAT
There is onlyFAT32 in the dropdown on the computer.
HELP HELP

Reply to grahamrobb

Thanks for the help krasnirex!! The problem for me was that mine was set to "auto" instead of msc. I would have thought that would have worked but does not. So for others before formatting, check the settings/usb menu and make sure it is set to msc. I'm betting this will do away with the device is disconnected error, when trying to add music.

Thanks again!

Message edited by simmer_44 on 10-16-2009 at 04:59:34 PM

Reply to simmer_44

All I have to say is "bless you"! I have spent the entire weekend trying to get photos on a digital picture frame with failure after failure. I had formatted the memory several times, but not the fat 32, just the default, fat! The fat 32 worked, and now I can wrap Grandpa's photo frame! THANK YOU!

Reply to TJCatte

thank you soooo much tom5002, the FAT 32 worked for me too!

Reply to nchung

Why would SanDisk sell their products like this? It was frustrating as hell but thanks to tom5002 I've regained my sanity.

Message edited by drg158 on 12-17-2009 at 07:27:16 AM

Reply to drg158

You would think that the Picture Frame makers might put something like this in their documentation. I didn't see any but it could have been there. I was up all night working on Grandmas pictures and this worked like a charm on both a 1 gig and 2 gig SD card.

Reply to Skyrunner

Just wanted to note I had same problem as others. Could not get SD card reformat; very frustrating! The root would only allow me to copy 350 files. I created 1 folder and put all my pics there, transferred fine - and my photo frame recognized the folder on the card and began to display the pics. I'm using a Phillips brand frame.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to k-ren

k-ren wrote :

Just wanted to note I had same problem as others. Could not get SD card reformat; very frustrating! The root would only allow me to copy 350 files. I created 1 folder and put all my pics there, transferred fine - and my photo frame recognized the folder on the card and began to display the pics. I'm using a Phillips brand frame.

For those who are facing the so called " cannot create directory or file " , i have found solution at lease for my case - the problem is you cannot save or create a new folder or file in your flash or usb so you can only save in any existing folder that you have created before or the second option is to copy the file to the desktop and then manually copy or cut the file to any existing folder in the usb .....haha viola it works for me until the usb space becomes full
so save the headache of formating and reformating and all the long ways it takes

Reply to Anonymous

The real problem must be that the name of the file is too long.right click on in and rename it.That was the problem on my Sansa Clip.It worked just fine for me

Reply to Anonymous

This is not the problem i have my problem is that its not copying its doing nothing just saying copying. help me Now!!!!.

Reply to Anonymous

Guys im having a problem with my MP3 Player When I copy my music it just says copying it does not copy it just stays like that. GUYS HELP ME

Reply to Anonymous

Yepp! That seems to do it tom5002!

I too was one of those guys suffering a bit with a Creative Nuvo 2gb'er with that damned error message:

"cannot copy " " : The directory or file cannot be created."

I almost gave up 'till I too BINGed [since I assumed it was a Windows related issue] the error message.. yours was the first hit - and a smart answer..

So I formatted the gadget in FAT32 [there's a drop down - at least in XP Pro there is: FAT or FAT 32].

So outta 2gb's, I'm now gettin' 1.88 Gb.. whereas before I could only get like 800mb or so.. [used 1.22gb, 677mb free]

Makes sense! I just realized that my Canon camera has the ability to format an SD card before you start taking pix!

Duh!

Again - THANKS!

Reply to Duh_FeelLikeATechNow

Thanks so much for the "so easy" answer, I copied all files to a directory on my computer hardrive, then formated the flash drive, and copied all files back no problem, got my full flash drive space back, and all is well. AnA

Reply to anabw

cbalogh05 wrote :

Tom5002 is right on. Format your disk for FAT32 and the problem disappears. I didn't have the luxury of creating folders as the USB drive is plugging into a digital picture frame which is reading the drive for a slide show.

Thanks for everyones comments. This is a great forum.

Reply to muja

maxman wrote :

I deleted a couple few tunes, and was able to copy a file to the unit. Is there a limit to the number of MP3 files even though the device reports not full?

The beloved techies,
Yes i too face the same problem of copying the MP3 files in to my usb drive.
Error"files or directory cannot be created" X number of files in root :\ cannot be copied in FAT(file alloation table) technology, so format the flash drive and make the file systems as FAT 32 and then start copying the x number of files. Even u can create the folder but when it comes to devices where the files play in a slide mode u have to go for FAT32 / NFTS files systems.
for more updated get in touch....

Thanks,
Md.S.Mujahed.Aly
Riyadh,KSA.

Reply to muja

The reason you can't add more files is that it's out of filename slots (for lack of a better word), just move what ever files onto the computer, make a folder, move them into it, and move them back to the flash drive. And there you go.

Reply to Dremorain

tom5002 wrote :

can people send me free motorola v3x games or software as i have helped u

i tried to copy songs on my memory card using card reader. but it shows: CANNOT COPY FILE. I/O ERROR.

Reply to Anonymous

lausus wrote :

Hi,

I had the same problem when copying to a mmc drive on my pc, and it seems that you cannot have more than x files under the root folder. I created some folders and I copied everything fine. So if you can create folders on your SanDisk you should be able to drag and drop there easily.

Lausus

You are right on. I was trying to put jpg's on my sandisk and then even on to a usb drive. But even though there was a ton of storage left, I couldn't write any more. "cannot copy abc.jpg: the directory or ifle cannot be created." So I created several folders and was able to put everything I needed on it.

Reply to msjeannie

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