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7 April 2024  John Weaver  Senior Program Developer
 

Summary
Discover practical remedies for the frustrating "The directory name is invalid" error encountered when hooking up a USB drive to your PC. Uncover the typical culprits behind this issue and explore proven data recovery techniques to reclaim your missing files.



Table of contents

table icon1. Causes for the error that the directory name is invalid
table icon2. How to solve the error that the directory name is invalid?
table iconIII. Use Renee Undeleter to recover lost data in the USB flash drive
the directory name is invalid?

I. Causes for the error that the directory name is invalid

The “directory name is invalid” error on a USB disk occurs when connecting it to a computer and trying to access files, preventing normal access to data.
There are many reasons for this error, generally stemming from the following points:
●The USB port is damaged
●The USB driver is outdated or wrong
●USB disk failure
●The Windows system is damaged or temporarily unable to recognize your device
the directory name is invalid
After understanding the possible causes of the failure, we can refer to the following methods to try to solve this kind of problem.

II. How to solve the error that the directory name is invalid?

1. Replace the USB port

If you encounter an error message saying “The directory name is invalid” when trying to access files on a connected USB disk, safely eject the USB disk from your computer and reconnect it to a different USB port to troubleshoot.

2. Use Windows Disk Check Tool to repair

If the USB hard disk experiences a file system failure, use the Windows built-in disk check tool to check and repair the error.
Step 1: Connect the USB flash drive to the computer, open “My Computer/This PC”, right-click the USB flash drive that needs to be checked and repaired, and select (Properties). Switch to the (Tools) option in the Properties window and click the (Check) button.
device properties Windowscheck disk
Step 2: Select the “Scan and repair drive” option in the Error Checking interface, wait for the scan and repair process to complete, then try accessing the USB flash drive to check if the problem is resolved.
scan drive

3. Update the driver of the USB disk

Outdated USB disk drivers can cause the “The directory name is invalid” error. Update the driver to resolve this issue. Follow these steps to update the driver for an external hard disk:
Step 1: Connect the USB flash drive to the computer, and press (Windows key + R) to open the running window. Enter the command (devmgmt.msc) and click (OK) to enter the Device Manager.
open device manager
Step 2: Next, in the “Disk Drive”, right-click the USB flash drive that needs to be updated, and select the (Update driver) option.
update driver disk
Step 3: Select the " Search automatically for updated driver software" option, follow the instructions to update the USB disk driver. Check if the problem is resolved. If not, restart the computer, reconnect the USB flash drive, and try accessing the files.
If you encounter the “The directory name is invalid” error message when connecting your USB flash drive to your computer, there are three commonly used methods to repair it. However, it’s important to keep in mind that data loss can occur due to this failure or other factors. In such cases, you can use Renee Undeleter, the best data recovery software available, to retrieve any lost data. For more information, continue reading.

III. Use Renee Undeleter to recover lost data in the USB flash drive

1. What is Renee Undeleter?

Renee Undeleter is efficient data recovery software that can retrieve lost files from accidental deletion, emptied recycle bin, disk formatting, and more. Its four functional modules make it a convenient tool for various data loss situations.
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Easy to use Recover data by 3 steps;

Multiple scan modes Fast partition scan, whole partition scan and whole disk scan;

Supported file types Image, video, audio, text, email and so on;

Image creation Create a partition image to read and back up data;

Supported devices SD card, SDHC, SDXC, USB flash drive, hard disk and computer.

Easy to use Recover data by 3 steps;

Multiple scan modes Fast partition/whole partition/whole disk scan;

Supported devices SD card/USB/hard disk.

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2. How to recover lost data in the USB flash drive with Renee Undeleter?

Step 1: Run the computer, connect the USB disk, download and install Renee Undeleter, and select the (Whole Partition Scan) option in the main interface.
Note: Do not install the software on the disk that needs data recovery to prevent data overwriting.
select whole partition scan in renee undeleter to recover deleted video from sd card
Data recovery function:
Fast Partition Scan – Quickly retrieve files lost due to accidental deletion or emptying the recycle bin.
Whole Partition Scan – Quickly recover files lost due to inaccessible or formatted partitions.
Whole Disk Scan – Analyze and get partition information and perform a full scan of the entire partition.
Image Creation – You can create a mirror image for a partition to back up the current partition state.
Step 2: Next, select the USB disk partition where the lost data is located, and click (Next). Then enter the scanning process, please wait patiently.
Renee Undeleter Whole Partition Scan
Step 3: Preview and select the files to be recovered after the scan is complete, then click the (Recover) button.
Note: Please select a different disk partition to store the recovered files, and avoid saving them on the original disk where the data was lost to prevent data overwriting.
preview and select the files to recover in renee undeleter
preview before recovery