Cannot DELETE an Icon?

[Guest]

I have a shortcut icon on my desktop that I cannot delete.

What happened is that I installed the game Battlefield 2 recently. Then, I
realized that I installed an incorrect patch so I had to un-install the game.
The un-install however did not remove the original icon. When I re-installed
BF2, I un-checked the box to include a new desktop icon (figuring the old one
to work). It did not. Upon clicking that old icon, nothing happened. So I
went to the File Manager and made a new shortcut for BF2 onto the desktop.
Then, realizing now that I still had my old icon out there, I went to delete
it and got this message: "Could not find this item. This is no longer
located in C:\Users\Public\Public Desktop. Verify the item's location and try
again."

And it's true, that icon is no longer in that folder.

So why can I NOT delete this darn icon?

 

[Barry]

I had a similar problem. Your current O.S. does not believe that the icon
exists...so it can't get rid of it. I had to take my computer to a shop
that had a specialized program that allowed for a "work around" and they
deleted the folder for me. It was more of an annoyance than anything..and,
according to the tech I talked with, something they've been finding with
Vista, especially during the transfer of games, programs etc. from another
operating system. I don't know the name of the program used by the tech to
get rid of the folder but he did say that there are several like it...and
that they allow you to do things independent of the operating system
(whatever that means).
Barry

 

[Don]

I have a shortcut icon on my desktop that I cannot delete.

What happened is that I installed the game Battlefield 2 recently. Then, I
realized that I installed an incorrect patch so I had to un-install the game.
The un-install however did not remove the original icon. When I re-installed
BF2, I un-checked the box to include a new desktop icon (figuring the old one
to work). It did not. Upon clicking that old icon, nothing happened. So I
went to the File Manager and made a new shortcut for BF2 onto the desktop.
Then, realizing now that I still had my old icon out there, I went to delete
it and got this message: "Could not find this item. This is no longer
located in C:\Users\Public\Public Desktop. Verify the item's location and try
again."

And it's true, that icon is no longer in that folder.

So why can I NOT delete this darn icon?

Try this experiment: hold down the Shift key and right-click on your
desktop, then select 'Open command prompt here'. At the command prompt
type dir /a

That will show you everything on your desktop, including hidden files.
Look for any file that could be your troublesome shortcut.

Also, what happens if you right-click on the icon. Can you open its
Properties?

 

[Guest]

Don,

Thanks for the ideas but when I typed dir /a, it displayed only about half
of the icons on my desktop, and not the one I am having problems with :-(

Also, I can view the properties, ... but cant seem to change any of the
either :-(

 

[Guy Thomas]

I had a similar problem. Your current O.S. does not believe that the icon
exists...so it can't get rid of it. I had to take my computer to a shop
that had a specialized program that allowed for a "work around" and they
deleted the folder for me. It was more of an annoyance than anything..and,
according to the tech I talked with, something they've been finding with
Vista, especially during the transfer of games, programs etc. from another
operating system. I don't know the name of the program used by the tech to
get rid of the folder but he did say that there are several like it...and
that they allow you to do things independent of the operating system
(whatever that means).
Barry

My theory is that the setting is in the registry - somewhere!

Here is how I tracked down a similar problem with the public folder icon.
My idea is could the setting for the icon be in the same part of the
registry?

http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/vista/vista_registry_public.htm

Guy

 

[Steve Roseberry]

Try looking under C:\Public\Desktop (formerly known as the All Users
Desktop)

 

[Steve Roseberry]

Sorry, it is the C:\Users\Public Desktop. The <SHIFT> procedure given only
opens the logged in User's desktop command prompt.