Ubuntu
nautilus package

remove lost+found file from 8 GB usb flash drive

Asked by michael

New 8 GB flash drive. When I downloaded a 5.5 GB file, it would only take 4.0 GB. The properties said 7.4 GB. So I loaded drive to 7.2 GB to see if it worked. Formatted drive, it leaves Lost+Found file. When formatted to FAT, L+F file is not there. Formatted any other way, it is there. Suspect 4.0 GB limit with FAT??? What is Lost+Found? Research says, damaged file dump, do not do anything to it. OK, I won't. Please tell me how get off flash drive. Research says, many ways to remove flash drives, nothing about removing the file. This is the error I get. The folder "lost+found" cannot be handled because you do not have permissions to read it." I do not how I got this file, must have loaded when filling up flash drive. It seems that I had permission to load on flash drive, but not unload it. The file uses .6 GB. I am using Ubuntu 10.10 Thanks for any information.

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Eliah Kagan
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Best Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure) said : 		#1

It is not recommended to remove the lost+found directory in the root of a Unix-style filesystem. Some filesystems contain this directory when they are first formatted, and as the documentation you've read has said, you generally should keep it. If it's taking up a lot of space, you can remove files it *contains* (though you should make sure they're not your only copy of otherwise damaged or inaccessible files).

To access its contents, you can run a Nautilus window as root. To do this, press Alt+F2, type "gksu nautilus" (without the quotes), and press enter. This root Nautilus window is very powerful--you can do just about anything with it, including lots of things that could severely break your Ubuntu system, so I recommend being very careful while using it, and closing the window when you're done so that you don't accidentally mistake it for a regular Nautilus window later. Any programs you run from this Nautilus window (for example, if you double-click on a document inside lost+found to open it) will also run as root, and should be treated with the same high degree of care.

If you insist on removing lost+found even though it is not recommended to do so and doing so may adversely impact your ability to recover damaged files on that volume in the future, you can also do that from within a root Nautilus window as described above.

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marcus aurelius (adbiz) said : 		#2

if i remember correctly, FAT can't handle anything larger than 4 gigs, so that explains why you can't save a 5.5 gig file on your flash drive. however, it will save two 4 gig files to take up the 8 gig drive.

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michael (yellupcm-gmail) said : 		#3

Marcus Aurelius -- When I formatted to (ext4), all 5.5 GB was put on drive. You are correct. Thanks

Eliah Kagan -- I am not comfortable working with this complex computer problem. I checked the hard drive to see if Lost+Found, was on it, it is. The file on flash drive is not a big problem. I will leave it. This solved the question. Thank you very much!

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michael (yellupcm-gmail) said : 		#4

Thanks Eliah Kagan, that solved my question.