Windows cannot find…

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I am getting this error on *many* files, although not all, as I can still access this forum! I ran an error check on the drive and came up with no errors. What could be causing this and how do I fix it? I have backups, but unless I know what is wrong, that isn’t a guarantee either.

Chuck Billow

Chuck Billow

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Chuck,

Exactly where is the error originating from?
File Explorer?
Jump List?
Etc.?

A screen capture of the error would be useful.

HTH :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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RG;

I get the error regardless of how I try to open the file(s). In Explorer, another file manager, or directly from the desktop. I tried several different files, and always a window pops up that says “Windows cannot find [for instance] c:rescue.log. Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again.”

All / any file gives me the same error.

Chuck

Chuck Billow

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Have you by any chance disabled Quick Access, perhaps from this post?

If so, try the following:

1. Right-click on the Start button and select Run.
2. When the Run dialog appears, copy/paste explorer shell:::{6DFD7C5C-2451-11d3-A299-00C04F8EF6AF} into the text entry box then click on the OK button.
3. When the Folder Options dialog appears, change the Open File Explorer to: dropdown from the default Quick Access to This PC then click on the Apply then OK buttons.

46580-folder_options
Click to enlarge

Hope this helps…

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I can drill down to the folder I need, and the file shows listed, but then when I click it I get the error.

Chuck Billow

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Can you open the desired program, then open the file in question from within the program? That will let you know whether or not Windows File Association is causing an issue.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Usually if you don’t “own” the file, you get an “access denied” message, but as this is obscure anyway, you might try taking ownership of one of the affected files and seeing if that changes anything ?

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Check what’s in your Path: Control Panel > System > Advanced system settings > Environment Variables > System variables > Path. The folder you are accessing may need to be defined in there.

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Guys;

The program itself works fine. Since I was not relying on an association (i.e. instead, opening the file directly from within the program), it had to be something within the program itself. Luckily I had just backed up yesterday, so I was able to restore the image, and it, thankfully, works fine. SO it only cost me a couple hours and could have been a LOT worse.

I would juts like to know what happened, but oh well…

Thanks guys.

Chuck

Chuck Billow

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An issue with Quick Access, like removing it from the Navigation Pane, results in the exact symptoms you described, hence my question in post #4.

You would have been able to drill down through folders because Quick Access doesn’t add them to Frequent Folders until you’re been to the same folder several times, i.e. frequently. Similarly, you wouldn’t have a problem with a file if it was already in the Recent Files list because Quick Access wouldn’t have anything to do.

However, if you had Quick Access disabled but still had the tick in the Show recently used files in Quick Access checkbox (Folder Options > Privacy) then you would get an error when you tried to open a file that wasn’t already in the Recent Files list due to the conflicting conditions. Similarly, if you removed Quick Access from the Navigation Pane but didn’t change the default view (in Folder Options) from Quick Access to This PC then you would get an error.

The errors would happen whether you used a file on the desktop, within a folder or even within an Open/Save dialog in a program because Quick Access has replaced Favourites in all Navigation Panes.

Have a look at this post, particularly the second link, i.e. How to Add or Remove Quick access in Navigation Pane of File Explorer in Windows 10. If you scroll down to the section labelled 8. To Remove Quick access from Navigation Pane I suspect you’ll recognise the screenshot of the error dialog.

Now, you may not have disabled Quick Access or removed it from the Navigation Pane yourself but IMO the symptoms point to an issue with Quick Access.

Hope this helps…

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Rick, I will take a look, thanks. I always revert back to the My PC view in Explorer. I cannot answer to the still having the Recently used folders enabled. I’ll have to watch for that.

Thanks,
Chuck

Chuck Billow

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