Deleting desktop icon with no source file

[Guest]

Last year I somehow set up a desktop shortcut to a file, which later I must
have deleted; however, the desktop shortcut did not delete. Because there is
no source file anywhere in the computer, when I try to delete the desktop
shortcut, I am unable to and receive this message: "Cannot delete file.
Cannot read from the source file or disk." Can somehow tell me how to delete
this desktop icon?
-- THANK YOU!
helena

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Cannot delete file Cannot read from the source file or disk

You cannot delete a file or a folder on an NTFS file system volume
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081

See: Invalid File Names here...
How to locate and correct disk space problems on NTFS volumes in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315688

How to Remove Files with Reserved Names in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/120716

How to Remove Files with Reserved Names in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315226

<quote>
Cause 3: File system corruption is preventing access to the file
You may not be able to delete the file if the file system is corrupted. To
resolve this issue, run the Chkdsk utility on the disk volume to correct any
errors.

Bad sectors on the disk, other faulty hardware, or software bugs can corrupt
the file system and put files in a problematic state. Typical operations may
fail in a variety of ways. When the file system detects corruption, it logs
an event to the event log and you typically receive a message that prompts
you to run Chkdsk. Depending on the nature of the corruption, Chkdsk may or
may not be able to recover file data; however, Chkdsk returns the file
system to an internally consistent state. For additional information about
using the Chkdsk utility, click the following article numbers to view the
articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Error message: The file or directory is corrupt...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/176646

An explanation of CHKDSK and the New /C and /I switches
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/187941
<quote>
from...
You cannot delete a file or a folder on an NTFS file system volume
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

I have done that occasionally. The way I deal with it is to create a file as
a TXT file, put a couple of characters in it, close it, and rename it to the
file the shortcut is asking for. Then, once you have the file located where
the shortcut is looking for it - delete the shortcut first, and then delete
the created file.

GP