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I have a 1 TB NTFS external hard drive used for data and backup for both Windows and Linux. It got corrupted and I repaired it with chkdsk in Windows.

Chkdsk recovered a collection of files with names beginning with $. These appear to be the NTFS system files as described in this Wikipedia reference, which suggests it was the NTSF system sectors of the drive that were corrupted.

It also recovered a 2 GB file named .fuse_hiddenxxxxx (xxxxxx is a long string of digits), with no filename extension. No file of this description is mentioned in the Wikipedia reference, or anywhere else that I have found through online searches. I’m guessing from the name that this file is related to FUSE, but it seems too large to be a system file.

Neither Windows nor Linux appear to have problems with the drive now, so it seems the corruption was repaired. My question relates to the .fuse_hiddenxxxxx file. I'm trying to determine whether this is something critical or just flotsam from whatever failed at the time of the corruption.

I’m hoping someone familiar with the inner workings of NTFS and FUSE will be able to either recognize the file, or conversely, recognize that it is not anything associated with NTFS or either operating system. Also, do I understand correctly that if it is related to FUSE, it could only be a Linux file?

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  • Can you simply reinstall those tools that are not working?
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jan 20, 2015 at 18:52

1 Answer 1

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fuse_hidden_[HEX.VALUE] files appear when you use file systems from both operating systems (its common NTcache). It is a temporary file, therefore it can be safely deleted. It actually suppose to self-delete upon reboot. If it is somehow still in use, use lsof /file/path/fuse_hidden_[HEX.VALUE] to see whats keeping it accessed, terminate the process(es) and then erase it.

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  • Thanks. If you can add a reference link for further reading, I'll also upvote the answer.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 8:06
  • FUSE (Filesystem in Userspace) is a simple interface for userspace programs to export a virtual filesystem to the Linux kernel. FUSE also aims to provide a secure method for non privileged users to create and mount their own filesystem implementations. You can download the source code releases from sourceforge.net/projects/fuse Fuse has been incorporated in many recent Linux-based OSes. Technical info: manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/utopic/man8/mount.fuse.8.html
    – Overmind
    Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 8:25

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