[Jenesis87]

I'm trying to delete an unneeded folder from the Start Menu. I right-click and then "Explore", navigate to "Programs", select the folder and press delete.

It won't let me delete the folder! (It is an empty folder.) The error that comes up is:

Could not find this item

This is no longer located in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\StartMenu\Programs. Verify the item's location and try again.

I also cannot delete it from Explorer view, or move, rename or otherwise edit the folder in any way. See this screenshot. As a last resort, I tried to delete it from the Command Prompt and got this:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Jenny>cd C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs>DIR
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is C0AD-38E1

Directory of C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

13/09/2007 12:13 <DIR> .
13/09/2007 12:13 <DIR> ..
12/09/2007 17:01 <DIR> Accessories
08/08/2007 16:14 <DIR> Administrative Tools
13/08/2007 14:18 1,830 Apple Software Update.lnk
04/09/2007 18:47 <DIR> DVB-T USB Device Remote Controller
08/09/2007 15:54 <DIR> Games
11/09/2007 01:04 <DIR> Media
22/06/2007 19:36 1,788 Microsoft Virtual PC.lnk
08/08/2007 16:29 <DIR> Productivity
31/08/2007 21:46 <DIR> Startup
10/09/2007 00:07 <DIR> Utilities
15/06/2007 12:12 <DIR> Windows
29/08/2007 15:59 1,764 Windows Calendar.lnk
3 File(s) 5,382 bytes
11 Dir(s) 265,701,675,008 bytes free

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs>DEL "DVB-T USB Device Remote Controller"
Could Not Find C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\DVB-T USB Device Remote Controller

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs>

Please help me as this is driving me insane!

[wjohnc]

Vista doesn't seem to work well on many levels, including deletions.

Generally, if something won't delete and it says the path is wrong or the item "is no longer located", then it's already officially deleted, but Vista hasn't gotten around to actually removing it from view.

A restart or refresh (F5) often speeds things along. Be aware, too, that sometimes folder1 contains a folder2. Deleting folder1 usually (for me anyway) will mean deleting folder2 first because the delete function won't cascade.

Remember, it is Vista, the most unstable OS ever in the history of computing :#

JohnC

[Jenesis87]

Oh I don't know, ME has to take my "Worst OS Ever" award.

I think this error has something to do with the Index system that has been introduced in Vista. Thank you for your suggestion, but sadly that folder has been there for two months! Many restarts, refreshes and even an Index Rebuild have taken place in that time.

Guess I'm stuck waiting for SP1. At least the error is purely 'cosmetic' I suppose.

[Tsurotu]

Oh I don't know, ME has to take my "Worst OS Ever" award.

Agreed, that really was bad, I used it for day or so then rolled back straight away to 98... then to XP, then back to 98 until SP1 came out...

98 still holds my best ever Windows award, although XP pro is good, but I am impressed with Vista, as a Macintosh user, its nice a pretty .

Back to the problem at hand, I came across it, I found that it dissappeared after defragging the drive - perhaps it was the time frame (rather large, indexed 250gb SATA - takes a while) or perhaps it was the act of defragging. Have a go, see what happens.

[ThePrutser]

Hi,
Did you get rid of the folders already? I had the same problem and I managed to delete them eventually! I used a command prompt then used "dir /x" to get the 8.3 name of the undeletable folder, then I used the "rd" command with the 8.3 name of the folder and it finally got deleted!
Can you give it a try?

Regards,
Erik

[Jenesis87]

No, I still haven't got rid of the folders. Also, I've found the same problem with the same folder on my XP laptop (it's a start menu folder for Freecom's DVB-T USB TV Receiver).

Could you be more specific about how you deleted the folder please? I'm not very experienced using the command prompt

[ThePrutser]

of course!

* goto "Start", "Run" (if you don't see run press the Windows Key + R)
* Type in "cmd" en press "ok". a command prompt will open.
* Goto the drive where the undeletable folder resides for example D:
* So you will have type in D: <enter>
goto the folder where the problem folder is located, in my case it was located in
D:\_cache\delete\
the folder i could not delete was called "happy tree friends" (d:\_cache\delete\happy tree friend) so i typed:
D:<enter>
cd _cache<enter>
cd delete<enter> (As you can see I don't open the problem folder itself)
* type: dir /x<enter>. A directory listing will appear containing the 8.3 names of the folders and files, in my case it showed: happyt~1
* then type: rd happyt~1<enter> (replace happyt~1 with the folder name you see)
The folder will be deleted.

Good luck. I hope it makes any sense, if you have any other questions just shoot!

NOTE:
rd = remove directory/folder
cd = change directory/folder

[Jenesis87]

OMG. You are a genius. Thank you so much, that worked! I didn't know about using the 8.3 names rather than the full name.

[ThePrutser]

Originally Posted by Jenesis87

OMG. You are a genius.

ROFL, I do not deserve that much credit but thank you for the compliment!

Thank you so much, that worked! I didn't know about using the 8.3 names rather than the full name.

To be honest I found out by a wild guess, I was all out of ideas and just gave it a try