Renaming any folder produces "Could not find this item". Clicking "Try Again" always works. Why?

Anonymous
2009-11-11T13:37:01+00:00

This is not the same issue as similar postings that have to do inability to delete folders that contain zero byte files. 

If I try to rename any folder in my system, I get "Could not find this item" with the choices "Try Again" and "Cancel". When I click "Try Again", it always succeeds. So - my system isn't crippled - but it is so totally annoying. I can even right-click on my desktop, and choose "New...  Folder" and type in a name, and I get "Could not find this item". The interesting thing is that the item's name does change even before I click "Try Again". 

If I have a folder named "Folder1" and I rename it to "Folder2", I get the error that "Folder1" Could not be found - which is actually true, as it is already renamed to "Folder2".

Why is Windows 7 looking for the old folder name after renaming? I've also disabled AVG's live scanner to no avail.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2010-04-29T20:39:55+00:00

I finally got it.

I used the same solution for the similar issue in Windows Vista. Once i got to my company laptop, i exported this 2 registry keys.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDescriptions

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FolderDescriptions

Merged into my pc and voilà !!

The 'shell' command also works again (ex: shell:personal brings up the account folder)

I uploaded the reg file and you can get it here http://cid-fb5a28bc4a1cc9b6.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Folder%5E_fix%5E_win7%5E_x64/FolderDescriptions.rar

This is for Win7 x64. Use it at your own risk.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-03-21T10:02:46+00:00

    Of course it was a Microsoft update. Thing is, "could not find this item" is such a niggling thing it is hardly worth spending time determining what update or process or combination of things brought it about. This Windows 7 computer is not a test bed; it is a working computer with very few applications and no hacks at all... except Microsoft's (updates). I don't recall "could not find this item" in Windows 95, but the only computer more important than this one in our operation is a Windows 98 2nd with four printers that we use for mass mailings; pin feed labels, etc. Thankfully W98 doesn't receive updates; that ended about ten years ago. Now the KB3004394 "genuine advantage validation" (that's a good one); that broke my wife's laptop and this one.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-03-21T05:27:14+00:00

    All bow to the all-powerful Varredor!

    Yep, me as well - I also was a victim of the loose MS update re-introducing a bug I last saw in Win 95. I Sure hope that doesn't mean they are still using the same code?

    Win7 x64 Ultimate and I just noticed this two days ago.  Thankfully with others searching for and commenting on this page, it is going back up the page rankings and I was able to find it.  It worked for me first time, but none of the other suggestions on other sites worked at all.

    Has anyone worked out yet what the new cause of this is?  I am guessing it was an MS update, but anyone any idea which one?

    Thank you Varredor, you just saved me a couple of hours restoring the computer.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-03-19T21:41:10+00:00

    Thanks.. Works for Me in Win 32 Bits.

    Only Edit the File reg Downloaded Up..

    1. Find "x64" word in file
    2. Remove all (2).

    Example:

    "ProgramFilesCommonx64" => "ProgramsFilesCommon"

    "ProgramFilesx64" => "ProgramsFiles"

    Then Merged normally and Works, Great...

    Thanks for varredor, I Search a long time for this Solution.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-03-15T08:42:29+00:00

    You've got to be kidding: Win 7 x64 was working fine... then Microsoft reintroduced a five year old error with a recent update. Kludge the registry? No thanks... I'll wait until they fix it again. (I don't mean a five year old programmer at Microsoft caused the error; I mean the error is five years old.)

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