Unable to rename folder on usb FAT32 drive

[rayge]

I am able to rename the files in the folder, but not the folder itself on the external drive (5TB WD black).
I'm using Windows 11 NTFS drive. I recently synced the external drive attached to my PC with a synology drive over LAN.

In retrospect, I probably should have connected the USB drive directly to the Synology NAS itself. I have done that in the past using free file sync with no issues.

Unchecking read only in properties for the folder on the external drive doesn't help. Still cannot rename it. I cannot add a security tab in properties using regedit on the FAT32 external drive.

Running chkdsk with admin rights it's stuck at 100% but still trying to complete job .... dots running and drive running, drive light flashing indicating it either trying to complete chkdsk disc or just stuck...

This is a little used drive so I think it's good and I have more like it on hand that I just for backups occassionally.

I don't see any leftover filesync files on the external drive itself, and I have folder properties set to show hidden files, etc. I do show filesync files on the Synology NAS. Those drives were formatted by Synology.

[rayge]

C:\Windows\System32>chkdsk D: /f /r
The type of the file system is exFAT.
Volume Serial Number is 82B4-746A
Windows is verifying files and folders...
Volume label is musica.
Windows is verifying file allocations...
100 percent completed..

dots are still active after 100 percent completed
. .. ... .... ..... ...... repeat
and ext drive still spinning after more than an hour so far

from what I've read regarding repeating dots and active read/write activity, chkdsk is still attempting to complete its job, but may not be successful

[xCSxXenon]

Check SMART health data for the drive, might be failing.
You didn't say why it won't rename. Does it get an error?

[rayge]

Check SMART health data for the drive, might be failing.
You didn't say why it won't rename. Does it get an error?

Thanks for the reply. I do not get any error response when attempting to change the folder name. It just doesn't save my changes. Crystal disk info showed drive as good. I haven't yet tried running cmd wmic diskdrive get model,status. Right now it's still running chkdsk D: /f /r
Windows is verifying file allocations...
100 percent completed..
and the the ..... changing after 'completed' means it's working on it
I got 3 instances of 'windows replaced clusters in file'
It's finished with verifying file allocations and now 'windows is verifying free space ...
18 percent complete
at the moment after dskchk was started almost 24 hours ago

I may end having to copy all the files onto another drive and reformat this USB drive to NTFS. I formatted it as FAT32 in the first place so I could use the drive on both mac and windows.

edit: I just found a windows program lockhunter I might try if I still have an issue after dskchk finishes which will probaby be tomorrow at this pace. https://lockhunter.com/
I'll report back.

[xCSxXenon]

I know a possible issue:
viewtopic.php?t=12974&hilit=desktop.ini#p50416
viewtopic.php?t=11867&hilit=desktop.ini#p46140

See if there is a desktop.ini file in there, overwriting the display name. If you know how to use Command Prompt, you can also run 'dir' in the parent, this should show the true folder name according to the file system, instead of the Windows GUI

[rayge]

I know a possible issue:
viewtopic.php?t=12974&hilit=desktop.ini#p50416
viewtopic.php?t=11867&hilit=desktop.ini#p46140

See if there is a desktop.ini file in there, overwriting the display name. If you know how to use Command Prompt, you can also run 'dir' in the parent, this should show the true folder name according to the file system, instead of the Windows GUI

Thank you. I will look into that. Chkdsk is still working on the state windows is verifying free space ...
it was at 18% yesterday morning and is now at 51% almost 24 hours later. It might finish that stage in 2 days. I don't know the next stage if any.
I've got a USB 3.0 port on the drive in question, attached to a USB 3.0 port on a fairly new laptop. Crazy how long this takes.

[rayge]

I need to correct the post topic to drive is formated exFAT not FAT32.

chkdsk d: /f /r finished after 3 days but I still can't change the name of the folder or ANY folder on the WD 5tb USB black drive. Even folders close to the root directory with short names. I am able to change filenames, but just not folder names. Removing read-only attribute on the folder(s) property doesn't stick. Using third-party renamer applications doesn't work.

There is no desktop.ini file in the main folder file, the subfolders or in the folder itself. There were a couple of desktop.ini files on the windows desktop which I deleted and then rebooted.

The DIR cmd lists the folder name the same way windows explorer lists it, same folder name.

When I drag the folder in question into the lockhunter application it displays a folder "explorer.exe" and in that folder are two instances of the one file folder I dragged over, both with the same folder name.
I used lockhunter to unlock the explorer.exe folder (it went away) and then used the lockhunter to "unlock & rename" the file folder, but it still would not rename it. When I restart the computer lockhunter reverts to displaying explorer.exe folder again with two subfolders with the same folder names, unchanged.

I am able to add a new folder to the drive, but then I cannot rename it. I'm able to delete it, within windows and it shows up on windows recycling bin, not the USB drive recycle bin.

May have to reformat the drive to NTFS then copy the files back over.

[xCSxXenon]

I was just going to ask if you actually need exFAT. NTFS is going to be way better for Windows-only use

[rayge]

I was just going to ask if you actually need exFAT. NTFS is going to be way better for Windows-only use

I copied the folder in question over to a exFAT formatted USB thumb drive and was unable to change the folder name, but could change the file names. I reformatted the USB thumb drive to NFTS, copied over the folder again and was able to change the file name.

I still wonder how this folder and not others got locked to prevent a name change and what it would take to fix it.

Anyway I'm copying the USB 5TB drive contents onto another NTFS drive, then will reformat the 5TB USB drive to NTFS. I originally was using it on both mac and PC, but now only need it for PC. It's filled with music files. I put in the root directory a .fsevenstd file with no_log to prevent mac spotlight from indexing and creating the .DS_Store dummy files for each music file that shows up in windows along with .dsstore folders. It's annoying. They aren't necessary on either system for playback (and freefilesync will sync them).

[rayge]

I was just going to ask if you actually need exFAT. NTFS is going to be way better for Windows-only use

I copied the folder in question over to a exFAT formatted USB thumb drive and was unable to change the folder name, but could change the file names. I reformatted the USB thumb drive to NFTS, copied over the folder again and was able to change the file name.

I still wonder how this folder and not others got locked to prevent a name change and what it would take to fix it.

Anyway I'm copying the USB 5TB drive contents onto another NTFS drive, then will reformat the 5TB USB drive to NTFS. I originally was using it on both mac and PC, but now only need it for PC. It's filled with music files. I put in the root directory of the 5TB drive a " .metadata_never_index file " (Disables Spotlight indexing) and a " .fsevenstd " folder with a " no_log " file inside to disable event logging (just create them with notepad and then delete the .txt file type). Otherwise the Mac will write .DS_Store folder and duplicate ._filename for every mp3. It's annoying. The Mac creates them for faster indexing, but they aren't necessary on either system for playback (and freefilesync will sync them).