Cannot delete icon from desktop

boohbah said:

if the pdf is in your download history in your browser ,could you try downloading it again .
it may be able to replace or merge with the broken icon and then be deleted when it is fully downloaded.

Well, I later on successfully downloaded that file (with the same name) and it opened and moved fine. I doubt that it's in the download history now as it's been many months.

boohbah said:

if you have or download malwarebytes, you can use the feature called file assassin to try and
remove it.

or try this here...

Malwarebytes : Remove any locked file with FileASSASSIN

Yes, already tried File Assassin. But File Assassin says the file does not exist.

Dwarf said:

Can you drag this item around your desktop?

Yep, I can drag it around anywhere. For quite a while I had it hidden beneath a desktop gadget so I would not see it, but I removed all the gadgets (per a security recommendation) and now I see it all the time.

Anak said:

There is a fix-it that touches on three areas you have mentioned, but I do not know if it includes some of the fixes you have tried, and other members have suggested.

What it fixes...

• Problems with desktop shortcuts and icons
  
  • Shortcuts on the desktop don't work or are broken
  • Desktop icons are broken or have not been used in 3 months
  • Startup items don't work or are broken
  
  
• System maintenance tasks
  
  • Free up disk space by repairing disk volume errors such as bad sectors, lost clusters, cross-linked files and directory errors
  • Free up disk space by removing error reports and troubleshooting history older than 1 month
  • Set the correct system time and synchronize system clock with the time server
  
  
• You receive the following errors:
  
  • Windows update error 0x80072F8F
  • The item that this shortcut refers to has been deleted
  
  

Source: Fix broken desktop shortcuts and common system maintenance tasks

Just downloaded and run that. This is something I had not tried before. However, it says it found no errors or problems!

Thanks.

Dinesh said:

LeoBv said:

boohbah said:

if you have or download malwarebytes, you can use the feature called file assassin to try and
remove it.

or try this here...

Malwarebytes : Remove any locked file with FileASSASSIN

Yes, already tried File Assassin. But File Assassin says the file does not exist.

At this point, I would suggest you to create a new user account, move your files (excluding the culprit) and delete that account.

Humm...never thought of that. Let me give that a whirl.

Thanks.