Cannot delete file. Says "Item Not Found Could not find this item Verify this item's location and try again."

Anonymous
2010-01-01T14:35:26+00:00

Cannot delete file.  Says "Item Not Found Could not find this item Verify this item's location and try again."

I had this file sent to me from my friend - it's a word document I had on their computer.  So I tried using Disk Cleanup to delete temporary files, temp internet files, and downloaded program files.  Doesn't work.

When I check properties, there is no security tab, so I can't transfer ownership that way.

I also don't want to experiment using the Command Prompt way of transferring ownership since the file's name is several sentences long.  I can't rename it either, of course.

Windows 7, a week in and I've already got a stupid glitch which has already wasted an hour of my time.

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

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Anonymous
2011-01-25T20:37:12+00:00

What i did was create a notepad file that was blank and saved it at the same location as the file that wont go away.  once saved.  I right click the new file and rename it to the exact name as the problem file.  Be sure to change the file extension (ex: .doc)

ex problem file: word.doc

new file: word.doc

as long as they match eachother exactly you should see the problem file disappear and once thats gone you can delete the new file created.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-05-08T17:29:58+00:00

    In the windows explorer. Select the "Tools" menu, then "Folder Options..." , then the "View" tab. Scroll down and un-check the "hide extensions  for known file types". That should display the extensions for the files.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-05-08T12:13:44+00:00

    Try this download, found from sevenforums

    try delinvfile DelinvFile - Utility for Deleting Invalid Files and Folders

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-07-31T21:26:39+00:00

    What a strange problem, mine no doubt happend due to a crash encoding a file.  The system wouldn't recognize that the file was there with the errors listed above about not being able to find it.  The notepad trick didn't work, Safe mode didn't work.  I tried coping the file and that started to work but then locked up 40% through the operation creating a second file which I also couldn't then delete..lol.  

    What did finally work was entering the command line and using the delete command with a WILDCARD.  File was named s59c. I used del s59* and it worked deleting both files.  Another Windows mystery solved.  The root cause must be a corruption with the file name, trying to use an exact match with what you see will not work.  Using a wildcard will work around that problem.

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-01-01T20:41:49+00:00

    Also: no, rebooting into Safe Mode doesn't help either.

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