Found Folder on CF Card

I saw that I have a folder called FOUND.000 on my CF Card at the root level.
It contains 140 files with a .chk extension for a total of 650Mb.

Can I delete it or is it needed?

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CHK files in a Found folder are how Windows identifies corrupt data.

Back up and replace your CF card ASAP. Don’t continue to use it unless you want to lose all of your data.

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It is quite weird since i use Linux.
Could I delete these files and see if they appear again?

I am backing up regularly (at least I try) and this is a Sandisk 64Gb, never left the slot of the OT.

EDIT: actually they were all created at the same time like 2 years ago, probably some lost data because of a power cut or unplugging too fast.

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The Linux FAT32 driver / chkdsk program probably does the same thing, it’s part of how the FAT system works.

The .chk files are the recoverable portions of files that have experienced data loss. I’ve never put the effort and dollars into data recovery, so I can’t tell you how much work is involved, but probably a lot.

If you have backups, go back to them and discard the bad card.

Doesn’t matter. Flash lifetime is determined by the number of writes and reads. Either you are using the card heavily (good for you!) or you got unlucky (sorry!). Either way, you are playing with fire. Buy a new card ASAP and ditch the old one. Or get prepared for some wailing and gnashing of teeth once you lose the rest of your data. :man_shrugging:

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Could be. Given that a nice new 32GB card costs ~$40, I’d still ditch the old card and replace it. Why worry?

Edit: if you are very technically inclined, make a binary copy of the card as it is currently, ideally from a raw device. Then study up on the FAT32 filesystem and do some forensic research into your memory image. You may be able to manually piece together the missing files. This is almost certainly impractical, but can be a worthwhile exercise for the learning experience.

OK so i found the final word: almost all of them are actual WAV files that i can read. By the time stamp i could trace them back: they’re all from the same pack i transfered on that same day.
Some things might have happened like the USB getting unplugged or a power cut and if i transfered them while using a Windows laptop at that time, Windows must have saved them as recoverable files when plugging back the USB cable and after a automatic Chkdsk procedure.

Thanks for your help!

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I’m happy you were able to identify the damaged files and restore from the originals.