Cannot delete folder from desktop... 'Item not found'

S

Suzy Free

Hi there,

Can anyone help me?? I have an empty folder on my desktop that I cannot
delete. I get this message when I try and delete it....

Could not find this item.
This is no longer located in C:\Users\Marianne\Desktop. Verify the item's
location and try again.

Its driving me crazy so any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
 
J

John Inzer

Suzy said:
Hi there,

Can anyone help me?? I have an empty folder on my desktop that I
cannot delete. I get this message when I try and delete it....

Could not find this item.
This is no longer located in C:\Users\Marianne\Desktop. Verify the
item's location and try again.

Its driving me crazy so any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
=====================================
Maybe the following freebie would be worth a try:

Unlocker
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/695

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk
 
S

Suzy Free

Hi John,
Thanks for that - tried it and when i tried to run the unlocker it says
'Error ebug Privileges'.... checked the site but cant figure out what I am
supposed to do next....
 
J

John Inzer

Suzy said:
Woops I meant 'Debug privileges' not 'Ebug'.
============================
First...did you try deleting the folder in Safe Mode?

Windows Vista -
What Is Safe Mode
http://tinyurl.com/2mpeef

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/d063548a-3fc9-4723-99f3-b12a0c4354a81033.mspx

Windows Vista -
Start your computer in safe mode
http://tinyurl.com/397vhf

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/323ef48f-7b93-4079-a48a-5c58eec904a11033.mspx

Sorry...I haven't seen that error before.

The following thread is discussing
the same issue but it's unclear about
the fix:

VISTA: Why do i need permission to delete a file?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/archive/index.php/t-184797.html

Maybe it means you need to run it
as administrator but I'm not sure.

Windows Vista -
Run As Administrator
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/run_as_administrator.htm

Good luck.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/695

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk
 
J

Jane C

Hi Suzy,

If you right-click on the Desktop and select "Refresh", does the offending
folder disappear?
 
C

CB

Suzy Free said:
Hi there,

Can anyone help me?? I have an empty folder on my desktop that I cannot
delete. I get this message when I try and delete it....

Could not find this item.
This is no longer located in C:\Users\Marianne\Desktop. Verify the item's
location and try again.

Its driving me crazy so any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!


Suzy Free,

Drag the icon to the Recycle bin and see if you can delete it that way.
Have a nice day.

C.B.
 
S

Suzy Free

Thank you all for your help but I have tried everything and nothing works....
Any other suggestions?!
 
F

---Fitz---

Suzy Free said:
Thank you all for your help but I have tried everything and nothing
works....
Any other suggestions?!


Can you delete the folder using the command prompt?
 
W

william davidson

you could try & create your self a new profile & then get rid of the ols one
(only if this is causing a major issue)
have you rebooted ?
 
J

jamestngo

I had a file on my desktop that did not want to delete, and the "cut
and refresh" method did not work for me in Windows Vista.
The correct way to do it is to delete the file from the Command Prompt
with administrator privileges.

To do this, find Command Prompt in your Start menu by typing 'Command'
in the search box, then right-click it and select Run as
Administrator.
Then type 'cd %userprofile%\desktop' and press enter, that should take
you to your desktop folder. (If the file is located in another folder
you will have to navigate there yourself, this is not a treatise on
using the Command Prompt)
Type 'dir' to view the contents of the directory, which for this
example would be your Desktop folder.
Then type 'del filename.xyz' where xyz is the file's extension.

e.g. the offending file is called wontdelete.zip
You would type 'del wontdelete.zip' and press enter.

If there are spaces anywhere in the filename you will have to put it
in quotation marks.
e.g. del "w o n t d e l e t e.zip"

Sometimes the filename or folder is so complicated it might still say
'file could not be found'
Try searching for an shorter name using the dir command and * as a
wildcard

e.g. The filename or folder contains the word 'zip' in it, you would
enter 'dir *zip*'
As long as you get only the desired file or folder, you can now safely
enter 'del *zip*'
If you enter it when there are i.e. 4 entries then it would delete all
4.
It shouldn't take long to experiment with the dir command and
wildcards to narrow your search down.

Hope this helps.
 
S

Sapan

I had a file on my desktop that did not want to delete, and the "cut
and refresh" method did not work for me in Windows Vista.
The correct way to do it is to delete the file from the Command Prompt
with administrator privileges.

To do this, find Command Prompt in your Start menu by typing 'Command'
in the search box, then right-click it and select Run as
Administrator.
Then type 'cd %userprofile%\desktop' and press enter, that should take
you to your desktop folder. (If the file is located in another folder
you will have to navigate there yourself, this is not a treatise on
using the Command Prompt)
Type 'dir' to view the contents of the directory, which for this
example would be your Desktop folder.
Then type 'del filename.xyz' where xyz is the file's extension.

e.g. the offending file is called wontdelete.zip
You would type 'del wontdelete.zip' and press enter.

If there are spaces anywhere in the filename you will have to put it
in quotation marks.
e.g. del "w o n t d e l e t e.zip"

Sometimes the filename or folder is so complicated it might still say
'file could not be found'
Try searching for an shorter name using the dir command and * as a
wildcard

e.g. The filename or folder contains the word 'zip' in it, you would
enter 'dir *zip*'
As long as you get only the desired file or folder, you can now safely
enter 'del *zip*'
If you enter it when there are i.e. 4 entries then it would delete all
4.
It shouldn't take long to experiment with the dir command and
wildcards to narrow your search down.

Hope this helps.

This worked for me. Even if the folder is located somewhere else....
1. Open up a command prompt (run cmd.exe from the Start Menu).
2. Navigate to the folder that the object resides in.
3. Run "dir /a /x /p" to display the contents of the folder, including
hidden files (/a) and 8.3 filenames (/x).
4. Find the 8.3 filename of the object to the left of the regular,
long filename.
5. Run "ren <8.3 name>" to rename the object, "del <8.3 name>" to
delete it if it's a file and "rd /s <8.3 name>" to delete it if it's a
folder.
 
D

Drew T

ameya_ahr,

Give this a shot. Right-click on your desktop, select 'New > Folder'. Name
the folder exactly the same as the problem folder. When asked, select 'Copy
& Replace'. You should now be able to delete the new folder.

Drew
 
D

Drew T

ameya_ahr,

Mmm, now why didn't it get replaced? Go figure. I suppose you can't drag the
problem folder into the new folder and then delete the new folder. Or better
yet, rename the problem folder and then try to delete. I know I was able to
delete it with a similar solution. Keep trying, you'll get it.

Drew
 
R

Richard Urban

You don't state what your problem is so it is difficult to assist you.

You can't expect people to routinely go back and search for what YOU are
referring to.

State again your problem - clearly and concisely!
 
R

Richard Urban

Many times you can cure this by running chkdsk C: /f from an elevated
command prompt window.

You will be told that you can not run this now - do you want it to run
during the next boot up. Type Y and press the enter key.

Reboot.
 
P

Patrick

Solution for Vista's "Item not found" error when deleting or renaming
files/folders

When you try to delete or rename a file/folder, you may receive a
window that says:
"Item not found. Could not find this item. This is no longer located
in [folder]. Verify the item's location and try again."

To solve, follow these steps:
1. Open up a command prompt (run cmd.exe from the Start Menu).
2. Navigate to the folder that the object resides in.
3. Run "dir /a /x /p" to display the contents of the folder, including
hidden files (/a) and 8.3 filenames (/x).
4. Find the 8.3 filename of the object to the left of the regular,
long filename.
5. Run "ren <8.3 name>" to rename the object, "del <8.3 name>" to
delete it if it's a file and "rd /s <8.3 name>" to delete it if it's a
folder.
Note: If renaming to a long filename, make sure to enclose the long
filename in quotations. If that fails, temporarily rename it to an 8.3
name and then rename it to what you want outside of the command
prompt.
 
J

Jailee

so I have this folder that wont go away. When I try to delete it it get a
message that says:
Could not find this Item.
This is no longer located in C:\ . Verify the item's location and try again.

So here is what I have tried to get rid of it:
1. delete...got message above
2. Cut folder and refresh...still there
3. create a new folder and name it the same as the bad folder...I just end
up with two folders with the same name and only able to delete the newest
folder.
4. create new folder and move bad folder into it...got message that says
"The action cannot be completed because the folder is open in another
program." It's not open though.
5. delete the file from the Command Prompt....message saying it could not
find the folder

I'm at a loss here. Anyone have any other solutions? I would be greatfull
for your help
 
J

Jim

so I have this folder that wont go away. When I try to delete it it get a
message that says:
Could not find this Item.
This is no longer located in C:\ . Verify the item's location and try again.

So here is what I have tried to get rid of it:
1. delete...got message above
2. Cut folder and refresh...still there
3. create a new folder and name it the same as the bad folder...I just end
up with two folders with the same name and only able to delete the newest
folder.
4. create new folder and move bad folder into it...got message that says
"The action cannot be completed because the folder is open in another
program." It's not open though.
5. delete the file from the Command Prompt....message saying it could not
find the folder

I'm at a loss here. Anyone have any other solutions? I would be greatfull
for your help

Google for and use Unlocker .
 

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