Can't Delete a file

[Justin]

Windows Vista Ultimate 64.
I right click and hit delete on a file and I get
Item not found
This is no longer located in C:Users?blahblah/downloads verify the
items location and try again.
I booted into safe mode (under the admin account) and tried to delete
it, and it still didn't work.

 

[housetrained]

What is the file's suffix?

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Justin.

Can you see the file in Windows Explorer? Of course, you may need to set
your Folder options to show hidden and system files, depending on what kind
of file it is.

This is no longer located in C:Users?blahblah/downloads

You "yada-yadaed" over what might have been the best part - but we can't
tell. The "downloads" folder at the end suggests that this may be a file
that you've downloaded from the Internet, and that it might be in your TIF
(Temporary Internet Files) folder. The TIF folder is NOT like other Windows
folders and requires special handling. You MAY be able to find and delete
that file in Internet Explorer; click Tools | Internet Options, and on the
first (General) tab, check the TIF settings.

Sometimes we can't delete files because they have already been deleted, but
they still appear in a Search because Vista's Index service works only in
the background. Sometimes it takes days for it to get enough free time in
the background to rebuild the Index; in the meantime, the deleted file still
shows up when we search for it. Ditto when we move a file to a new
location: until Index catches up, the file will still appear in the former
location, but it's not really there.

When all else fails, we can open an elevated Command Prompt window and use
commands inherited from MS-DOS to do things that the GUI can't do. (Such as
using Dir /x to display the SFN (8.3 filename), then Del <SFN>.) If you
need instructions for this, please post back with more details about the
file you are trying to delete.

Until you give us more information, we're just shooting in the dark, so I'll
stop now before I hit something. :^{

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

 

[Justin]

What is the file's suffix?

docx.
It was downloaded from my college's Blackboard system.

 

[Justin]

Hi, Justin.

Can you see the file in Windows Explorer? Of course, you may need to
set your Folder options to show hidden and system files, depending on
what kind of file it is.


You "yada-yadaed" over what might have been the best part - but we can't
tell. The "downloads" folder at the end suggests that this may be a
file that you've downloaded from the Internet, and that it might be in
your TIF (Temporary Internet Files) folder. The TIF folder is NOT like
other Windows folders and requires special handling. You MAY be able to
find and delete that file in Internet Explorer; click Tools | Internet
Options, and on the first (General) tab, check the TIF settings.

Sometimes we can't delete files because they have already been deleted,
but they still appear in a Search because Vista's Index service works
only in the background. Sometimes it takes days for it to get enough
free time in the background to rebuild the Index; in the meantime, the
deleted file still shows up when we search for it. Ditto when we move a
file to a new location: until Index catches up, the file will still
appear in the former location, but it's not really there.

When all else fails, we can open an elevated Command Prompt window and
use commands inherited from MS-DOS to do things that the GUI can't do.
(Such as using Dir /x to display the SFN (8.3 filename), then Del
<SFN>.) If you need instructions for this, please post back with more
details about the file you are trying to delete.

Until you give us more information, we're just shooting in the dark, so
I'll stop now before I hit something. :^{

RC

the yadda yadda was the account name. It is in the standard Downloads
folder.
The file is a Word docx file. I downloaded it from my college's
website. Once I used it, I no longer neded it and tried to get rid of it.

 

[Justin]

Hi, Justin.

Can you see the file in Windows Explorer? Of course, you may need to
set your Folder options to show hidden and system files, depending on
what kind of file it is.


You "yada-yadaed" over what might have been the best part - but we can't
tell. The "downloads" folder at the end suggests that this may be a
file that you've downloaded from the Internet, and that it might be in
your TIF (Temporary Internet Files) folder. The TIF folder is NOT like
other Windows folders and requires special handling. You MAY be able to
find and delete that file in Internet Explorer; click Tools | Internet
Options, and on the first (General) tab, check the TIF settings.

Sometimes we can't delete files because they have already been deleted,
but they still appear in a Search because Vista's Index service works
only in the background. Sometimes it takes days for it to get enough
free time in the background to rebuild the Index; in the meantime, the
deleted file still shows up when we search for it. Ditto when we move a
file to a new location: until Index catches up, the file will still
appear in the former location, but it's not really there.

When all else fails, we can open an elevated Command Prompt window and
use commands inherited from MS-DOS to do things that the GUI can't do.
(Such as using Dir /x to display the SFN (8.3 filename), then Del
<SFN>.) If you need instructions for this, please post back with more
details about the file you are trying to delete.

Until you give us more information, we're just shooting in the dark, so
I'll stop now before I hit something. :^{

RC

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