I recently had trouble with some cross-linked folders on my office computer running Windows XP. When ever I clicked on the folder windows simply couldn’t access the folder and a windows dialogue box appeared stating the folder may be corrupt. I had a whole host of data in the folder I did not want to loose and this was turning in to another one of those situations reminding you that you should back up your data more frequently!

I initially tried running various software programs to diagnose the problem and each time got a fairly ambiguous error stating possible corruption, however, one program gave a more specific possibility of cross-linked files or folders. This seemed likely as I had recently re-sized & moved some of the partitions on the hard drive which seemed like the possible culprit as the first partition adjusting resulted in a error and I had to redo it again. Luckily I found out that more often than not the solution as to how to fix cross-linked files or folders in windows be it Windows XP or an earlier version is to simply run the inbuilt ScanDisk utility in Windows. Windows XP users note that ScanDisk is called CheckDisk in Windows XP. It is in fact recommended that you run ScanDisk/CheckDisk every 30 days or so on your computer as it can help with the performance of your PC.

ScanDisk is a Windows utility program which scans and checks your computers hard drive for physical damage and can fix file system problems such as the crossed-linked folders issue mentioned here. Damaged, invalid file names and disassociated file names can also be fixed by Windows ScanDisk.

For earlier version of Windows you can access ScanDisk through the Start Menu:

Start > Programs > Accessories >System Tools > ScanDisk

For Windows XP you will need to first click on ‘My Computer’ then right click on the drive you wish to perform the ScanDisk test on. From the drop down menu select ‘Properties’. Now click on the ‘Tools’ Tab at the top and then click the ‘Check Now…’ button.

When you start ScanDisk you select the hard drive you want to scan (normally C:) and then pick the type of test to perform:

1. Standard - This test examines the hard drive for lost chains or clusters which is the hard drives map for finding files. The standard ScanDisk test will usually only require a few minutes.
2. Thorough - The thorough test performs the same actions as the standard test but in addition also check s the hard drive for bad sectors. When a bad sector is found by ScanDisk, the sector is marked as bad and avoid using it moving your data to a good area of the hard drive. The thorough ScanDisk test will need a lot longer to complete than the standard ScanDisk test.

Before running ScanDisk you should be aware of a couple of things. ScanDisk requires a totally uninterrupted run in order to complete a test. If anything else tried to access the hard drive while ScanDisk is running it will reset and start again. This can be very frustrating so to make sure ScanDisk runs with no interruptions you can do the following to help:

• Close all open programs
• Turn your screen saver off
• Temporarily disable your antivirus software
• Unplug any network connections you may have, completely pull out any network cables or disable any wireless network cards
• Check for programs running in the background and close any still running. To do this you need to access the Task Manager (simultaneously press < Ctrl > < Alt > < Del > keys). On the Task Manager click the ‘Applications’ tab and close (End Task) all programs except Explorer and Systray.

After running ScanDisk it is also recommended you run the Windows ‘Defragmenter’ Utility. Windows disk Defragmenter is a tool that essentially reorganizes the data on your hard drive so that it becomes more organised. This means you computers hard drive access and use becomes more efficient and helps the performance of your PC. It can also help towards preventing future issues. This is another tool you should ideally run every 30 days or so on all your hard drives and partitions. You can access the Windows Defragmenter from the same locations as specified before for the ScanDisk utility program.

So you should now know how to fix cross-linked folders or files and should be able to fix them in a second and help avoid a lot of panic, stress and expense on Data Recovery software you probably didn’t need!! (However, do note that if this solution does not fix your cross-linked folders and files error you may have a different kind of problem and should definitely look in to other data recovery services or software).