Cannot Delete Shortcut from Desktop!!

[A Baffled User]

I'm beginning to wonder if Windows Vista Home Premium exists for the sole
purpose of preventing me from getting anything accomplished. I am the sole
user, with administrative privileges, of this machine. Still, when I just
attempted to delete an unwanted shortcut from my desktop, I couldn't.
Message says, "Location is not available. C:\ is not accessible. Access is
denied."

The same thing happens for every file on the desktop I try to delete. What
the heck is going on here???

Joan

 

[gls858]

I'm beginning to wonder if Windows Vista Home Premium exists for the sole
purpose of preventing me from getting anything accomplished. I am the sole
user, with administrative privileges, of this machine. Still, when I just
attempted to delete an unwanted shortcut from my desktop, I couldn't.
Message says, "Location is not available. C:\ is not accessible. Access is
denied."

The same thing happens for every file on the desktop I try to delete. What
the heck is going on here???

Joan

I had a similar experience with a file. It turned out that in fact it
was gone but still in the index when I reran the index they disappeared.

gls858

 

[Bob]

Reboot.

 

[A Baffled User]

I've rebooted multiple times. And talked with tech support at HP. Not only
can I not delete icons from my desktop, I cannot access drive C:\!! The tech
support people are stumped. Needless to say, so am I.

If I disable/turn off UAC, or enter Safe Mode, everything works fine. But
with UAC turned on, all of a sudden today, things have gone haywire.

 

[Bob]

HP tech support is a joke.

Try this.
Add "Take Ownership" to right-click menu in Vista
http://www.petri.co.il/add-take-ownership-context-menu-vista.htm

 

[A Baffled User]

I have gone through changing the ownership of the entire drive C:\ via
C:\Properties\...Security\Edit, and it made no difference whatsoever. Do you
think that creating a Take Ownership menu would do any better than taking
over ownership of the whole primary drive?

 

[Bob]

Yes, I think it might. Use it to take ownership of the C drive.

 

[Dave]

Yes, I think it might. Use it to take ownership of the C drive.

simple little question............has the OP just tried the f5 key to
refresh his/her destop?

 

[Bob]

It's a good question. Sometimes we overlook the simple solutions.

 

[A Baffled User]

Okay, I'll try it. Will report back.

Yes, I think it might. Use it to take ownership of the C drive.

 

[A Baffled User]

simple little question............has the OP just tried the f5 key to
refresh his/her destop?

I don't know what OP stands for, but I, the poster of this question, just
tried pressing F5. It refreshed my icons but had no effect on their
deletability. Note that I am also denied access to drive C:\, in addition to
being prohibited from saving a file to my external hard drive.

 

[A Baffled User]

::You can get full access through the true admin account. Do the
following to switch accounts:::

::To Turn On the Hidden Real Administrator Account - In command
prompt:::
::*net user administrator /active:yes*::

::To Turn Off the Hidden Real Administrator Account - In command
prompt:::
::*net user administrator /active:no*::

::Remember to right click on the command prompt and \"run as
administrator\". WARNING: Make sure you are not logged into the Real
Administrator account when turning it off. Use a regular Administrator
account to do this instead. Log off and log back on to your regular
Admin account before executing the *net user administrator /active:no*
command (IMPORTANT).::

I will print these instructions out and follow them precisely. Will let you
know.

 

[Bob]

I don't know what OP stands for,

Original Poster.

 

[A Baffled User]

Original Poster.

Aha!

 

[A Baffled User]

::You can get full access through the true admin account. Do the
following to switch accounts:::

::To Turn On the Hidden Real Administrator Account - In command
prompt:::
::*net user administrator /active:yes*::

::To Turn Off the Hidden Real Administrator Account - In command
prompt:::
::*net user administrator /active:no*::

::Remember to right click on the command prompt and \"run as
administrator\". WARNING: Make sure you are not logged into the Real
Administrator account when turning it off. Use a regular Administrator
account to do this instead. Log off and log back on to your regular
Admin account before executing the *net user administrator /active:no*
command (IMPORTANT).::

What is the difference between the "real" administrator and the "regular"
administrator? I am the only user of this computer. My user account is an
administrator account. If I go to Computer>Drive
C:\>Properties>Security>Advanced>Owner>Edit, there are two administrators
listed under Change owner to: (1) Administrators
(The-Name-of-My-Computer\Administrators and My-Username
(The-Name-of-My-Computer\My-Username). The current owner is listed as
Administrators (The-Name-of-My-Computer\Administrators). Would one of these
be a "real" administrator and the other a "regular" administrator?

Thanks!

 

[A Baffled User]

Thanks, billybob, but the problem goes much deeper than my inability to
delete desktop shortcuts. Whatever's going wrong also won't allow me access
to drive C:\, for example, won't allow me to back up a file to my external
hard drive, and so on. Constantly gives the same message: "Location not
available. C:\ is not accessible. Access denied."

 

[Bob]

When following up to a previous post, you don't need to include everything.
Snip out what's not relevant. But do include what is relevant. Some people
may have missed the original post.

 

[A Baffled User]

But Windows still boots and runs? I know this may seem odd But, I
would try changing your hard drive cable. I've seen faulty cables
cause problems similar to this


--
billybob

,Billy
_____________________________________
Giga Bite Momma Board SLI MA59SLI-S5
AMD X2 6400+ Texas Style
4 G's of XMS-2 DDR-800 Longhorns
Raid'd Raptor 150's
1Tb of Deskstar. Eat that!
Plenty of Big ole fans everywhere!

Huh. Well, HP tech support has told me that I essentially have to reinstall
the Operating System. But I'm going to try a couple more things that have
been suggested on this forum first.

 

[Bob]

What is the difference between the "real" administrator and the "regular"
administrator?

Does this help?
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=460

 

[A Baffled User]

::You can get full access through the true admin account. Do the
following to switch accounts:::

::To Turn On the Hidden Real Administrator Account - In command
prompt:::
::*net user administrator /active:yes*::

::To Turn Off the Hidden Real Administrator Account - In command
prompt:::
::*net user administrator /active:no*::

::Remember to right click on the command prompt and \"run as
administrator\". WARNING: Make sure you are not logged into the Real
Administrator account when turning it off. Use a regular Administrator
account to do this instead. Log off and log back on to your regular
Admin account before executing the *net user administrator /active:no*
command (IMPORTANT).::

Okay, I followed your instructions above, having created a new administrator
account for the purpose. I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to enter *net
user administrator /active:yes* or ::*net user administrator /active:yes*::,
so I tried both. After the first string, I got the message '*net' is not
recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch
file. After the second string (i.e., with two colons fore and aft), I just
got returned to the command prompt.

Did I do something wrong?