Item claims it's no longer on your system, can't move/delete/get rid of it?


The Pool Man

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11 if on this site
Hi,

Instead of posting a question and making y'all share my misery, I solved it myself but want to share the solution.

PROBLEM --

I had an item on my desktop. I tried to delete it but the system told me it was no longer there. (WTF?) It must be a corrupted remnant of something that was once there.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH

1. Booting into Safe Mode and trying to throw it out
2. Opening a CMD prompt and trying to code it away

INSTEAD DOWNLOAD THIS


That is all
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    11 if on this site
Unlocker is getting a bit long in the tooth.
IF you find there are things on Win 10 or Win 11 that you can't unlock with Unlocker...

 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦26100.3775 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦24H2 ♦♦♦non-Insider
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 5002)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 15 years?

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
    Motherboard
    Erica6
    Memory
    Micron Technology DDR4-3200 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC671
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster U28E590
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG MZVLQ1T0HALB-000H1
7-Zip can also remove these phantom items.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home & Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen™ 7 7730U
    Motherboard
    M1605YA
    Memory
    15.0GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @ 1596MHz (22-22-22-52)
    Graphics Card(s)
    512MB ATI AMD Radeon Graphics (ASUStek Computer Inc)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1200@60Hz) - P1 PLUS (1920x1080@59Hz)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1200
    Hard Drives
    953GB Western Digital WD
    PSU
    45 Watts
    Mouse
    Lenovo Bluetooth.
    Internet Speed
    500 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ACER NITRO
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5800H / 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    CZ Scala_CAS (FP6)
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4 SDRAM 3200 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6 GB GDDR6 SDRAM
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio. NVIDIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" LED backlight 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) 144 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB NVMe M.2
    PSU
    180 Watt, 19.5 V
    Mouse
    Lenovo Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    500 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Hi,

Instead of posting a question and making y'all share my misery, I solved it myself but want to share the solution.

PROBLEM --

I had an item on my desktop. I tried to delete it but the system told me it was no longer there. (WTF?) It must be a corrupted remnant of something that was once there.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH

1. Booting into Safe Mode and trying to throw it out
2. Opening a CMD prompt and trying to code it away

INSTEAD DOWNLOAD THIS


That is all
Another way would just be right click on your desktop and hit "refresh" and it would have disappeared
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64 24H2 v26100.3037
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built Myself in 2017
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 1800X 8-Core @ 3.60GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Crosshair VI Hero
    Memory
    16GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce gtx 1660 Super
    Sound Card
    On Board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 X AOC 27" , PLANAR 22"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    ~ P34A60 512GB NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 M.2
    ~ 6TB Toshiba HDD
    ~ 6TB HDD (Backup)
    ~ SanDisk 250GB SSD
    ~ 2 X 1TB HDD
    ~~~~~~~~~~
    PSU
    Corsair RM850 Fully Modular (850watts)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 630 CA-PH630-W1
    Cooling
    CORSAIR iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT
    Keyboard
    Nulea RT05 Wireless Ergonomic
    Mouse
    Nulea MD280 Wireless Vertical Mouse
    Internet Speed
    761Mbps (Download) / 692Mbps (Upload)
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    *This is my Main Computer That I use*
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro x64 24H2 v26100.2894
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Xeon E3-1246 v3 @ 3.50GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R7 350X
    Sound Card
    onBoard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    eMachine 22"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    250GB SSD
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Nulea MD280
    Internet Speed
    752Mbps (Download) / 537Mbps (Upload)
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    I use this computer for photo/video editing and to track severe weather

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 10 Home x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    INTEL Core i5-11400
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME H570-PLUS
    Memory
    KINGSTON HyperX Fury Black DDR4 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3200MHz, CL16
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Superclocked 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 32MA68HY 32" IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG 250GB 970 EVO Plus NVMe, M.2 SSD, Crucial 250GB MX500, SEAGATE 500GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
    PSU
    CORSAIR RM550x 80 PLUS Gold 550W
    Case
    ANTEC P10 FLUX
    Cooling
    be quiet! Pure Rock 2, 5 x 120 mm Case Fans
    Internet Speed
    480 + Mbps Up/ 12+ Mbps Down
    Browser
    Vivaldi Snapshot
    Antivirus
    Avast
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Home x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-750
    Motherboard
    ASUS P7P55D
    Memory
    Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600MHz CL8
    Graphics card(s)
    MSI GeForce GT 240 N240GT-MD1G/D5 1 GB DDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 32MA68HY 32" IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1980x1040
    Hard Drives
    Samsung Electronics 840 EVO 120GB, SEAGATE 500GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W
    Case
    Antec 300
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212+, 4 Noctua NF-P12 120mm, 1 Noctua NF-P14 FLX
    Internet Speed
    480+ Mbps Down/12+Mbps Up
    Browser
    Vivaldi Snapshot
    Antivirus
    Avast
Had one of them......
i found out that its was the DWM "shortcut" which was not removed as part of the uninstall of the program
just cleared up shortcuts file .lnk entry
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\name ofshortcut
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    w7/10/11ip
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    hp probook 450 g8
    CPU
    i5 11th gen
Mine was a dragged URL from Firefox to the desktop. It lacked an icon but has a generic look, which was odd.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    11 if on this site
Another way would just be right click on your desktop and hit "refresh" and it would have disappeared

That strikes me as something the OS should do upon each boot. It was there for at least 8 boots/days in a row.

I say this because on quirk of Windows I can't believe lingers on minute by minute, day by day -- is that if you empty a really full recycle bin -- it will not show all items as 'gone' until you do a refresh within that window. I don't get how hard it is for the system to do so itself without your knowledge.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    11 if on this site
Windows has had refresh problems for the whole of this century.
There is no permanent fix. Personally, I reboot every day and this seems to minimise occurrences.
Most people report it affecting their desktops only.

Denis
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 23H2 Build 22631.3447

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