In our daily lives, many of us depend on portable devices such as USB drives, SD cards, among others, to move and store our information. However, errors may occur such as the “The directory name is invalid” which can prevent us from accessing the data contained on the device and be a real headache.
These types of errors are usually quite common when we must handle external storage devices, since they have multiple causes such as driver problems, unit errors, corrupt file systems, among others, but they always result in the inability to access the device. and, therefore, to the documents it contains.
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How to fix directory name is invalid
When we get the “invalid directory name” error message when trying to use your USB, external hard drive or the first thing you should do is verify If it is an error in the operating system or an error in the storage device, both physically and in its software. This type of messages may appear in the following circumstances:
- When the USB port is damaged or corrupted
- When the storage device is damaged.
- When the USB drive has been formatted incorrectly
- When the USB drive has outdated drivers
- When Windows is unable to recognize your external storage drive
Whatever the cause, here we will present the different alternatives you have so that the “directory name is invalid” message no longer appears and you can use your USB drive or DVD without any problem. Keep reading to find out.
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Check and fix disk errors
Among the most common reasons for the “directory name is invalid” error to appear is that a disk error occurs, which may be due to incorrect formatting, corruption of a sector of the disk, or hardware malfunction. of the same.
In any case, we can check and fix any disk errors by following these instructions:
- external storage that has the error on any available port.
- Type Win + R to open the menu Execute
- Write the command cmd
- In the command prompt window, type chkdsk #: /r /f, being # the letter assigned to the drive you want to verify
- Hope the program CHKDSK run and check for errors on the selected drive. If an error occurs, it will immediately prepare to repair it.
- Test your external storage device.
At this point, you should be able to safely use your USB drive and access all your data. However, we must warn that this process may occasionally erase some information stored on your external storage device during the disk repair process.
Therefore, the ideal is to have a program like the one that allows you to recover your information thoroughly and exhaustively so that you do not lose any of your valuable files.
Update drivers
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It may happen that the problem that generates the “directory name is invalid” message is due to the USB or DVD drive drivers being outdated or obsolete and therefore a compatibility error occurs when our pendrive or external hard drive.
To do this, you must keep our drivers updated, following these simple steps:
- Connect the external storage device that has the error to an available port.
- Go to Device administrator which is located in the Control Panel
- Seeks Disk Drives. Among the available options, look for the damaged drive and right-click on it.
- Choose
On the other hand, you can also download programs with driver packages such as which scan your computer to check which drivers need to be updated and do so automatically to the latest available version. This will also allow you to solve not only the “directory name is invalid” error, but any driver problems you have on your computer.
Disable the DVD drive
If you try to play a DVD on your computer and you get the message “the directory name is invalid,” it is best to reinstall this drive by disabling it and re-enabling it. To do so, follow these instructions:
- Press Win+X and open the Device administrator
- Locate the DVD drive and right click select Disable device
- Look for the DVD drive in the list again and with the right click now select
Perform a clean boot
Another very practical solution to resolve the “directory name is invalid” error is to do a clean boot of the operating system and thus identify which program may be causing this error and thus be able to eliminate it easily. You can perform this clean boot by following these instructions:
- Writes MSConfig in the search box
- In ServicesChoose Hide all Microsoft services then choose the option Disable all
- Go to Start and look for the option Open Task Manager.
- Select the elements that you think are causing the error and click deactivate
- Reboot the system by performing a clean boot.
Uninstall the USB driver
One of the causes of the “invalid directory name” error may be some with the USB drive or that it is corrupt or damaged. Therefore, the best way to solve may be to uninstall the driver so as not to use said unit. You can do it by following these steps:
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- Go to Device administrator
- Then open the Universal Serial Bus Controllers
- Look for the corrupted USB driver and click Uninstall
- Restart your computer.
Disable user account control
User account control can be very useful when managing your computer, but it can also generate some restrictions that may be the cause of the “directory name is invalid” error, so it is best to disable it by following these steps. instructions:
- Go to Control Panel and choose User Accounts
- Opens Change User Account Control Settings
- Move the slider all the way down so that it does not notify you when any changes are made to the computer.
- Restart your computer.
This solution will allow you to use the device without any restrictions and you can solve the error “the directory name is invalid” and thus access all the information you have available on your external storage units.
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