Try to open a file - error: "file does not exist" when it DOES exist

[PinkGeologist]

Try to open a file - error: "file does not exist" when it DOES exist

I stored some files on my D drive which is an external hard drive ...

Lately I have had this happen a number of times with totally unrelated files in different places on the D drive.

I try to open them (in Excel, but I don't think that matters) and I get an errors saying the file does not exist and to make sure it wasn't deleted or renamed ...

However, if I copy that file to folder on my desktop it works just fine.

Is this a hardware problem with my external drive? It is not true of all the files ... for instance there are say 19 similar files in a folder and maybe 2/3 of them give me errors while 1/3 do not.

 

[jumanji]

Welcome PinkGeologist.

Just a shot in the dark.Try running this Microsoft Fix it and check whether it resolves the problem. https://support.microsoft.com/en-in/mats/windows_file_and_folder_diag Select the option to fix the issue automatically (recommended). ( You don't lose anything if it finds no problems. Atleast we shall know the problem lies somewhere else.)

Note: On how MAT (Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting ) works see here. Do give it a reading.https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/949109