External USB Drive- Can't delete or move files

[shokan]

I run Win 7 on a Dell XPS M1530 running on AC power. I attached an Iomega USB 2.5" portable drive and booted up. This drive worked OK when last used with a desktop PC. In fact, I believe a few months ago it worked fine with the laptop it now has problems with. Read below.

So, I wanted to delete unused and old files from the drive, but find I can't. I also can't transfer them to the laptop. They do open, though.

As an example, I wanted to move a 13 mb PDF from the drive to the laptop Desktop. This is what happens:

A box pops up saying, 'You need Administrator's rights to move this file', so I click Continue > then a box appears headed 'Moving' (with a section of green repeatedly passing through the progress bar field) > then after a long 15-30 secs 'Move File' box appears with the message "Can't read from the source file or disk". Try Again and Cancel buttons are at the bottom.

Certain files can be moved to the laptop, however. I just moved a small .mht file to the laptop just now. I also just tried transferring a folder of miscellaneous files just now. No go.

I tried this also: right click on drive > Properties > Security > checked all Allow. I then get either 'Access Denied' or 'Error Applying Security Error (cyclic redundancy check)' for most every file it scans.

I need suggestions about this, please. I no longer have the desktop machine, btw, just the laptop.

Thanks.

[-pops-]

I'm not familiar with that particular drive but, I do know that many external drives have safety locks on them to prevent accidental changes to the stored data. The lock is usually a slide switch.

[shokan]

I'm not familiar with that particular drive but, I do know that many external drives have safety locks on them to prevent accidental changes to the stored data. The lock is usually a slide switch.

Not this one, nor do my others. In any case, I've discovered something called Take Ownership which is a utility that executes a Command Line and it is working on most of the files on the external USB drive so I can move or delete them. However, there are some jpegs that resist even that. I can't even open these pictures (they must be corrupt) and shred utilities don't get rid of them, either. I have tried Robocopy, which was intended for (up to) XP, but either I can't figure it out or it doesn't work on Windows 7. Those troublesome jpg are mixed in inside folders with dozens of others. It's proving to be a big headache.