Cannot delete any files in Windows Explorer (GUI)

Whenever I try to delete a file in the Windows GUI (either from the desktop
or from an open window), the file is deleted (usually) but a window saying
"Recycling 1 item" or "Deleting 1 item" stays on the screen forever, until I
use Task Manager to kill Explorer.

Deleting files from the command line is no problem.

Any ideas?

Thanks. (And sorry if I posted another copy of this in the wrong newsgroup
just now -- I clicked on the wrong line.)

Michael A. Covington wrote:

> Whenever I try to delete a file in the Windows GUI (either from the
> desktop or from an open window), the file is deleted (usually) but a
> window saying "Recycling 1 item" or "Deleting 1 item" stays on the screen
> forever, until I use Task Manager to kill Explorer.
>
> Deleting files from the command line is no problem.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks. (And sorry if I posted another copy of this in the wrong
> newsgroup just now -- I clicked on the wrong line.)

Looks like your Vista is fscked. Time to wipe the hard drive and reinstall.
That's the ultimate Vista solution to problems like this.

Cheers.

--

A US president declared war on poverty. Poverty won.
Another US president declared a war on drugs. Drugs won.
This US president declared a war on terror. Terror won.
Next?

> Looks like your Vista is fscked. Time to wipe the hard drive and
> reinstall.
> That's the ultimate Vista solution to problems like this.

That is definitely a possibility; there are very few files of any value and
I can still copy them to another machine. But I'd like to know the cause of
the problem, not just the extreme measures for curing it.

As far as it goes for deletion from a system (that boots at all,) it is a
question of Rights and Ownership.
If you are interested in experimenting, a reset of security defaults is a
good try.
HOW TO Reset Security Settings Back to the Defaults:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;313222
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Mark L. Ferguson
..

"Michael A. Covington" <> wrote
in message news:...
>> Looks like your Vista is fscked. Time to wipe the hard drive and
>> reinstall.
>> That's the ultimate Vista solution to problems like this.
>
> That is definitely a possibility; there are very few files of any value
> and I can still copy them to another machine. But I'd like to know the
> cause of the problem, not just the extreme measures for curing it.
>
>
>

"Mark L. Ferguson" <> wrote in
message news:B9A24FA2-2B81-466D-A0B3-...
> As far as it goes for deletion from a system (that boots at all,) it is a
> question of Rights and Ownership.
> If you are interested in experimenting, a reset of security defaults is a
> good try.
> HOW TO Reset Security Settings Back to the Defaults:
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;313222

No, it's not a matter of rights and ownership at all. Usually, the file
gets deleted but the "Recycling 1 item" or "Deleting 1 item" box never
closes. And I never have any trouble deleting from the command line.

Can't explain the origin of your problem, but before re-installing the OS,
I'd try the System File Checker to verify integrity of system files. From an
elevated command prompt, type: sfc /scannow .

"Michael A. Covington" wrote:

> Whenever I try to delete a file in the Windows GUI (either from the desktop
> or from an open window), the file is deleted (usually) but a window saying
> "Recycling 1 item" or "Deleting 1 item" stays on the screen forever, until I
> use Task Manager to kill Explorer.
>
> Deleting files from the command line is no problem.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks. (And sorry if I posted another copy of this in the wrong newsgroup
> just now -- I clicked on the wrong line.)
>
>
>

"JohnDavid" <> wrote in message
news:F45C9CB2-1B95-4F59-B23A-...
> Can't explain the origin of your problem, but before re-installing the OS,
> I'd try the System File Checker to verify integrity of system files. From
> an
> elevated command prompt, type: sfc /scannow .
>

Good suggestion. sfc found nothing wrong. scandisk found nothing wrong.
Turning off UAC made no difference. It's a mystery!

I even turned off virtual memory (swap file), rebooted, and turned it on
again. In earlier versions of Windows this has been a good way to get rid
of obscure corruptions. No help.

What is weird is that it didn't clear up when I went back to a Restore Point
well before the first occurrence of the problem.

Next move is probably going to be to remove McAfee Security (and run
McAfee's utility to *really* remove it) and put in AVG.

If that doesn't help, I'll reinstall Windows. At this point, a full
reinstall is going to take less time than everything else. This is a new
machine and there are virtually no new files of mine on it. Just a few
hours of OS and software reinstallation.

Curiouser and curiouser. The fact that a restore to a point prior to the
advent of this problem does not resolve it, is making me suspicous of a
faulty hard drive. I know you said that scandisk didn't find anything, but
it's not a very sophisticated disk analysis tool.

If removing McAfee proves no help, before putting in the time to reinstall
the OS and other software, you might want to consider a more in-depth
analysis of the physical hard drive. Many hard drive manufacturers provide
analysis tools (normally free for the download if it didn't already come
installed). Among the commercial products, I'm partial to GRC's SpinRite.

"Michael A. Covington" wrote:

>
> "JohnDavid" <> wrote in message
> news:F45C9CB2-1B95-4F59-B23A-...
> > Can't explain the origin of your problem, but before re-installing the OS,
> > I'd try the System File Checker to verify integrity of system files. From
> > an
> > elevated command prompt, type: sfc /scannow .
> >
>
> Good suggestion. sfc found nothing wrong. scandisk found nothing wrong.
> Turning off UAC made no difference. It's a mystery!
>
> I even turned off virtual memory (swap file), rebooted, and turned it on
> again. In earlier versions of Windows this has been a good way to get rid
> of obscure corruptions. No help.
>
> What is weird is that it didn't clear up when I went back to a Restore Point
> well before the first occurrence of the problem.
>
> Next move is probably going to be to remove McAfee Security (and run
> McAfee's utility to *really* remove it) and put in AVG.
>
> If that doesn't help, I'll reinstall Windows. At this point, a full
> reinstall is going to take less time than everything else. This is a new
> machine and there are virtually no new files of mine on it. Just a few
> hours of OS and software reinstallation.
>
>
>

"JohnDavid" <> wrote in message
news:82DBF0D4-3AEA-4085-8963-...
> Curiouser and curiouser. The fact that a restore to a point prior to the
> advent of this problem does not resolve it, is making me suspicous of a
> faulty hard drive. I know you said that scandisk didn't find anything,
> but
> it's not a very sophisticated disk analysis tool.

Me too, partly because it *is* a new machine -- just used for a few weeks.
Drives have a high failure rate when they're new.

> If removing McAfee proves no help, before putting in the time to reinstall
> the OS and other software, you might want to consider a more in-depth
> analysis of the physical hard drive. Many hard drive manufacturers
> provide
> analysis tools (normally free for the download if it didn't already come
> installed). Among the commercial products, I'm partial to GRC's SpinRite.

Interesting idea. It's a Dell laptop and I don't know the brand of disk
drive.

"Michael A. Covington" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> "JohnDavid" <> wrote in message
> news:82DBF0D4-3AEA-4085-8963-...
>> Curiouser and curiouser. The fact that a restore to a point prior to the
>> advent of this problem does not resolve it, is making me suspicous of a
>> faulty hard drive. I know you said that scandisk didn't find anything,
>> but
>> it's not a very sophisticated disk analysis tool.
>
> Me too, partly because it *is* a new machine -- just used for a few weeks.
> Drives have a high failure rate when they're new.

Query: lacking anything more specific, would it be a good idea to exercise
the drive by running a defrag? I'm thinking that if it's unreliable, I want
to prove it's defective right away so Dell will give me a new one.

We are a big Dell education customer.