In general, a healthy file gets corrupted, due to several reasons may be like,
- Faulty system
- Presence of virus on system/storage media where files are saved
- Flaws in the software used to modify or create the file
- Improperly closing system such as force shut down or due to power outages
- Ejecting the hard drives and portable storage media in a wrong way
- Bad programming if it resulting in a hard restart
And, when a file gets corrupted, it can be used no longer. It just occupies memory on the device for serving no purpose.
When the user tries to open these corrupted files they fail to show up or screens errors. A corrupted file on your computer can even make the hard drive to crash or lead to the loss of data stored on the disk.
Some sort of corrupted files can be recovered, wherein few cases you can neither delete nor recover those corrupted files.
How to Recover Corrupted Files?
Some of the corrupt files can be repaired on your own using possible options available in your system.
For instance, you can repair corrupt Word, PowerPoint etc. Office files using inbuilt Open and Repair option available in the respective application. And, in some cases, you need to take external assistance to fix corrupted files.
In case, you no longer need a corrupted file and it is affecting other functionalities or files of your system along with consuming space then get rid of corrupted files permanently.
Caution: Ensure before you delete any file permanently. If you need it in future, then you will regret what you did now. So, instead of struggling to recover permanently deleted a file when you need it most, better take precaution like keeping at least one copy of it in some safe place.
How to Delete Corrupted Files Completely?
Step 1: Delete Corrupted Files and Erase the Folder
Move all healthy files to a new folder from the folder that has corrupted files. After you have moved the other files, manually delete the corrupted files and folder that has immovable (broken) files.
Step 2: Close Windows Explorer
If the folder fails to get deleted, close the Windows Explorer. To close Windows Explorer,
- Press CTRL, ALT and Delete keys at a time
- Task Manager window will open
- Search Windows Explorer and right-click on it
- Select EndTask option
Step 3: Restart the Computer
After closing Windows Explorer, restart the computer and verify deletion of corrupted files.
How to Handle Corrupted Files?
- When a file is corrupted, it doesn’t allow you to modify (in most of the cases). At those times, you need to delete corrupted data using harsh sum or checksum. You can also try error correcting codes to fix the corrupted file.
- If you feel the corrupted files are important, then don’t remove them immediately. First, try fixing the issue and see you can recover anything from the corrupted files.
- Backup rest of the data saved on your device to avoid expansion of corruption.
