Solved Could not find this item - when deleting files

[geoffschultz]

I was just trying to clean up some files which got downloaded via Firefox into the "My Downloads" directory. On a few of them I get "Could not find this item. This is no longer located in ... Verify the item's location and try again."

I've run chkdsk on the drive and it comes up clean. Any ideas as to why this is occurring and how to get rid of the files?

-- Geoff

 

[mtp]

can't find file when deleting

Is it possible that you have already deleted the file?

Are you running a lot of RAM intensive applications?

I have run into a problem where explorer does not automatically update when running a lot of RAM intensive applications. Therefore, when you delete (or rename, or move ...) a file, explorer retains its original state until you refresh.

If I delete a file, it remains in explorer. If I try to delete it again, explorer says it can not find the file.


Mark

 

[FZ21Z]

F5 usually works.

 

[Ken1]

....... I get "Could not find this item. This is no longer located in ... Verify the item's location and try again."

I've run chkdsk on the drive and it comes up clean. Any ideas as to why this is occurring and how to get rid of the files?

-- Geoff

I have the same thing occurring in my system, I have 4gb of ram running win7 ultimate x64 ... ntfs file system ..
F5 was my first choice but didn't help ...
secondly
Since I thought it was access related, I've tried to use the excellent reigstry hack "take ownership" which I LOVE but in this case it wasn't related to the problem ... kind of annoying ....

well, it's not the end of the world but like I said it's annoying

you all have a good one
//Ken1

 

[usasma]

A Reboot will take care of most of these issues.
Couple this with chkdsk /r during the reboot and you increase the chances of success.

Those that aren't taken care of by this process are usually a result of deeper corruption of the file system or symptoms of a malware infestation.

 

[geoffschultz]

I've found that a reboot did take care of making the files disappear. It's just very disconcerting. I've run chkdsk and no problems have been found. All of the software on the system is straight from the vendor, so I feel relatively safe. I haven't seen it since that incident, so I'm not worrying about it too much.

 

[mtp]

Other Cause - lack of available physical ram

A Reboot will take care of most of these issues.
Couple this with chkdsk /r during the reboot and you increase the chances of success.

Those that aren't taken care of by this process are usually a result of deeper corruption of the file system or symptoms of a malware infestation.

I think there is also another cause - lack of available ram.

I can reproduce this on three different machines at will. All I need to do is run an app (sql server with a large database) that consumes large amounts of Ram (even if there is ram available). For example if physical Ram usage is above 4.8Gig on a machine with 6Gig, explorer does not refresh automatically. If physical Ram usage drops to about 4 Gig, automatic refresh starts working again.

Mark

 

[belikexp]

I realize this is an old post; but I came across this same problem. I was trying to delete a folder and a message came up and said "Could not find this item". I tried chkdsk, rebuilding index, safe mode and refreshing then rebooting. Nothing worked. But I did try running DOS command and typed attrib -s-h-r <folder name> /S /R.

Might be wrong on the /S /R . Then I del <folder name>. I thought it didn't work. But I then looked at the folder on the driver and it was gone. Weird problem.

 

[Packet]

adding my two bits - as I've encountered a similar issue on a raid 1 partition.

For instance: Rename a file in windows explorer from say "leary.mp3" to "Leary.mp3".

Unless i hit F5 to refresh, it still shows me the old lowercase name.

System idle otherwise - and lots of RAM available - hoping it's fixed by the eventual SP1...

 

[tachy]

I know this is a bit late, but I found a quick workaround:

1) Open a Command Prompt.
2) Browse to the folder containing the buggy file.
3) Type 'dir /x' to obtain the 8.3 formatted filename.
4) Delete the file using the 8.3 filename, e.g. 'del NEWDOC~1.DOC'

Hope this information may spread and help other users with the same problem.

 

[NehpetsDoom]

Thank you so much. I had a file on my desktop and it was fricking annoying.

 

[zvit]

I used to do the dir /x thing and it worked but I had this one file that even THAT didn't work so I found my own SIMPLE solution that worked great.

I just created a new directory, moved the bogus file into it (I didn't think it would move it but it did!) then in the new directory, the file got a new icon and then I just deleted the new directory and it was gone.

 

[Klang]

Thanks Tachy

The ~ worked !

 

[Ken1]

Thanks tachy!

Your methood worked perfectly on 3 files and 1 dir on different locations that has been a pain in the neck for me ..

thanks for sharing the solution



have a good one

//Ken1

 

[niklet]

Tachy's method worked for me also, with one exception...

1) Open cmd prompt
2) 'cd c:\users', to get to the directory,
3) 'dir/x' to list the directory files... but there was no 8.3 formatted filename for the file I was trying to delete (most likely related to why it won't delete)
4) Tried deleting it using the original filename, e.g. 'del windows.old' and it worked!

Something I never would have thought to do. Thanks so much. And it's never too late Tachy!

 

[SONORAN74]

I'm replying to anyone that is having trouble deleting a file. Been working on it half the day myself, reading through a lot of post could and not find a solution. So I gave it one more try. The file I was trying to delete was located in my download folder, but was not placed with-in a folder itself. So I created a new folder without renaming it, and dragged the file into the new folder. Do not copy and paste, it will only make the same problem. After that I just right clicked and deleted the folder. Work out fine for me. Hopefully for you too. Hope I explained it well. Good Luck

 

[Brash]

Here's how i fixed it:


i had this problem with a folder that had an incredibly large name and i think some files were inside of it that had the same filename..

i couldn't delete or rename or do anything with it. i couldn't even go into it to see if anything was inside.

so i tried the advice here and none of it worked either.

but i got it eventually.. and here is what i did:

since i couldn't move that folder, i renamed and moved the folder that held it (parent folder) to the number "1" and moved it to the root of the drive and it let me.. thus making the total filename/directory structure a little shorter.. I dont know if that was needed but thats what i did.

Then i tried to delete that problem folder again and it still didn't work.. and still couldn't rename it to something shorter.. so then i tried something else.

I ran "cmd" and in DOS i went to the directory "1" that was holding the problem-folder and then i typed "dir/x" to get the 8.3 format of the folder.. and tried "del <foldername>" and it didn't work.. Then i tried the rename command..

"Ren <8.3foldername> <new shorter foldername>"

and guess what? it worked!!!!!

it actually let me rename it and then i closed DOS and went back to explorer and now it's acting like a regular folder that can be deleted or whatever again.

 

[jonrichco]

This problem is wider than you all state

I get the same message, but it occurs when I create, move or delete a folder, including a zip folder (eg, when trying to create an archive). It is easily fixed by clicking "try again". But a more permanent solution would be helpful - ideas anyone? LATER: Found a solution which worked for my 32 bit Windows 7 system. [MSUPDATE KB980408]Warning To All Win7 x64 Users. - Page 2 - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net scroll down to HellGates

 

[Akito329]

i had a very similer problem and nothing here worked for me, but i finally deleted it very simply, befor it said the file wasnt there even when i used all the methods here, but strangely enough it let me move it to the desktop and i used a program called unlocker and it deleted it, before hand unlocker said the file wasnt there either but worked fine when i moved, go figure.

 

[TechWizard86]

I came across this issue as well. I believe the problem was caused when the item was moved but the registry or desktop.ini file never updated the desktop settings, making it believe that the item was there when it did not exist, thus giving the "Could not find the item" error. I'm not perfectly sure what could cause that issue. On occasions when Windows is dealing with a ton of other things it "forgets" to update the desktop settings just as when a person is dealing with a ton of things in the office, they can forget to do certain things at times. That is just a scenario for some cases and is different from situation to situation. When you press the F5 button, in a good portion of cases it forces Windows to stop what it is doing and makes it update the desktop and its settings.