Cannot delete icon from desktop

[Dinesh]

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.

good idea dinesh

Thanks Jules.

 

[AddRAM]

boohbah`s idea of finishing the download should work, was gonna suggest it also, but figured you already tried it.

 

[Pauly]

Open a command prompt and type the following

cd %USERPROFILE%\desktop
attrib -r -s -h "file name"*.*
del "file name"*.*

Replace "file name with the name of the file which you see on the desktop.

Thanks for the quick response!!

I found a similar suggested solution to this in my many searches, which did not work, but your script is a little different.

When I type in CMD it takes me right to the command line for the user name on the PC. The first line of your script then takes me to the same location plus "/desktop." OK so far.

Now, the second line of your script results in a response:

The target of the symbolic link C: \Users\ThinkPad W520\Desktop\Donor does not exist.

What I typed in was:

C: \Users\ThinkPad W520\Desktop\attrib -r -s -h "Donor"*.*

Any ideas?

Thanks again.

Just to go back a bit but wouldnt this command need the quote marks removed ? and there was a space after C:\
C:\Users\ThinkPad W520\Desktop\attrib -r -s -h Donor*.*

 

[Kari]

What I typed in was:

C: \Users\ThinkPad W520\Desktop\attrib -r -s -h "Donor"*.*

Any ideas?

Thanks again.

Just to go back a bit but wouldnt this command need the quote marks removed ? and there was a space after C:\
C:\Users\ThinkPad W520\Desktop\attrib -r -s -h Donor*.*

Quotation marks are correct although command prompt let's you use them quite freely as long as the path is understandable. All below examples would delete a file named Test File 1.bat:

• del "test*.*"
• del "test*".*
• del "Test File".*

However, OP's command has a syntax error as you noticed. Not only the space after C: but also the command itself (attrib) must of course be at the beginning of command line. Correct would be:

attrib -r -s -h "C:\Users\ThinkPad W520\Desktop\Donor*.*"

Kari

 

[Britton30]

Have you tried dragging it to the Recycle bin? Sounds basic, but has worked for me before.

 

[Layback Bear]

Okay here is one I have used before and it does sound crazy.
Right click on the icon and send it to a floppy, thumb drive ect. Then delete it from the drive.
You could also try right clicking on the icon and email it to yourself and then delete the email when it comes in. It has work for me at times.

I'm presuming that you have already right clicked on the icon and went to file location and removed the file.

 

[Anak]

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.

Your welcome!

Worth a shot, at least MS considers your system with respect to the fix-it to be okay.

 

[Kari]

Just found this old thread of ours, check PooMan's post: http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/52235-filename-extension-too-long.html#post480379

There's a link for an app that could be your solution.

Kari

 

[Bumpkin]

There have been lots of good suggestions posted.

But... booting with a live Linux disc such as Ubuntu has always worked for me.