Deleted items 4kb icons still appear and slow down loading

[Triumphdriver]

Hi all! I've got a backup drive that I use for portable files - sort of a big USB device! - and I'll transfer music videos or other small files to watch on television, where the Samsung TV upscales it to full screen and they're easier to watch.
Unfortunately over the years there have been hundreds, most of which are deleted soon after watching, but when I plug the drive into the TV it lists hundreds of 4Kb icons of files that are long gone, before it gets to the current ones. This really slows the process down as the television is slow to scroll.
How can I remove all of these, so that the only files shown are the ones that are still on the drive? The PC doesn't show them, CCleaner doesn't appear to remove them, and disk cleanup doesn't detect them. They only appear on my televisions.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

All too often, things just don't work the way we'd like them to. That is when we have to get creative.
Color outside the lines, think outside of the box. I've been doing this stuff since I built my first PC, way back in 1980.

What I would probably do in the instance you mentioned, would be to copy all of the active files that you want to keep, off of that drive to some other media, then reformat the drive, and then copy the files back to the drive.

That would give the drive a "Fresh Start".

I've had to do something similar to several Backup drives, over the years.

Whatever format you use on that drive, FAT32 or NTFS, you might try the 'Other' format, and see if that works any better for you. I almost always use FAT32 for all my backups. That way, I can access my files, even in DOS if need be.

Good Luck and happy computing.

TechnoMage

 

[Wandering one]

You might want to check the set up options in the TV. Smart TV's have memories that are not so smart.
Art.

 

[Triumphdriver]

I'll do that; thanks for the replies. I'd just like to delete these icons or remnants of files from the drive permanently - is there some way of doing that?

 

[Lance1]

I'll do that; thanks for the replies. I'd just like to delete these icons or remnants of files from the drive permanently - is there some way of doing that?

Unlocker Should do the trick for you.