Recycle Bin can't find specified file

For those who have the ability to view signatures turned off on this forum: I have Windows ME, the AM75-EC/TC Socket A motherboard, an 800 MHZ Duron processor, and 2 256MB DIMM of SDRAM.


Every time I empty the recycle bin, I receive an error message, stating "Cannot delete "FILE NAME": Cannot find the specified file. Make sure you specify the correct path and file name." But, that file does not exist in the recycle bin. If I manually open the recylce bin, and delete each file, it works fine. I also can not find the recycle bin's file and I've enabled the explorer to show system files and hidden files. I don't know how to fix this problem. Does anybody have a suggestion?

 

I've formatted my drive and reinstalled Windows ME, but I've put my PC on hold, because I'm working on a friend's PC. He also has Norton Utilities, so I decided to put my D: drive onto his PC. Without my D: drive connected to his PC the recycling bin works fine. However, when I connect my d: drive (which is the one that holds all of my data and not my operating system) and I choose empty the recycle bin, there are about 17 files that it asks me if I'm sure I want to delete. I say yes, but I get an error message saying, "cannot delete deskt$$$$$$$: cannot find the specified path." When I look inside the recycle bin, I don't see any files. When I look at my D: drive, in Windows Explorer, I only see the 2 folders that hold my data.

EDIT: I still have my D: drive hooked up to my friend's PC. I just went into Windows Explorer and tried to do a search. In the "look in" box I chose the "My Documents" folder. I hit the search button and I get the following two errors:

::\is not accesible. The specified file is not valid.

'::{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103} is not a valid folder.

I got out of Windows Explorer and double-clicked the "My Documents" Icon. It opened just fine. I closed the "My Documents" folder. I right-clicked the "My Documents" icon, on the desktop, and looked at properties. It said that it is located on the C: drive.

I don't know why I'm getting these two problems, but I know that it is because of the D: drive. I used to have ME installed on the D: drive. I've deleted all of the files, except for two folders. One of them is a "My Documents" folder and one is a folder I store data in.

Does anybody have a suggestion on how to fix these problems? I will be taking the D: drive off of my friend's PC, today, but I will get these errors on my PC, also.

 

It might have been better to make these two posts, but I think the cause for both problems is the same.

I unhooked my D: drive from my friend's PC and it took care of the recycling bin problem. I will, unfortunately, still get the same problem when I hook it up to my PC.

I still have the problem with the search engine, on my friend's PC, even though I took my D: drive off.

I also get the error message if I get to the search function, from the start menu. I go to start>search>for files or folders, I click the drop-down arrow located in the "look in" box, I choose "My Documents" and do a search. I get the same two error messages, from above.

I clicked the drop-down arrow, in the "look in" box, again and chose browse. I saw two "My Documents" folders. I clicked the + sign, in front of both of them. Only one would open, so I right-clicked the other "My Documents" folder chose delete. It disappeared. However, It didn't stop the error messages that showed up when I tried searching the "My Documents" folder. I have to give this PC back to my friend, so I need to find the solution. I hope somebody can help.

EDIT:

I was going to say, "why am I still getting these errors if my D: drive is disconnected and the icon on the desktop is targeted correctly?", but I just looked at the desktop and the "My Documents" folder is gone. How can I replace it? I made a temporary shortcut, by going into Windows Explorer, right-clicking the "My Documents" folder and choosing send to desktop. I don't like this one, because the icon just looks like an ordinary folder. It doesn't have the paper sticking out of the top. I need that to distinguish it from the other folder icons. I've tried to change the icon, by right-clicking it, but the only one that looks like the original is smaller than the original.

RE-EDIT: I could try to use Norton to recover the file, but I just tried the search feature. I now longer have the problem searching the "My Documents" folder.

I would like to know how to fix the Icon. I want it to look like the windows default icon. I've tried the repair icon feature on tweakui, but that doesn't change it. Any suggestions on this problem or the recycling bin problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

Some of you might be wondering why I'm the only one answering my post, but I'm posting the same thing on several boards. The other boards have replies, but I'm posting the new findings on this thread, so that anyone who wants to reply has all of the current facts.

 

Someone suggested using the show/hide icon feature, in tweakui, instead of the repair feature, but I don't see the "My Documents" icon as one of the choices.

I renamed the "My Documents" folder on the desktop and used Norton to recover the original icon. It looked the same. It didn't have the papers sticking out of the top. It looked like an ordinary folder. I tried the search feature and got the same errors. I deleted the original icon, again, and renamed the one I had created back to "My Documents". The search feature works, which is most important, but I still need to find out how to change the look of the icon.

EDIT:

I just want to say that I fixed the "My Documents" Error.

I deleted the one that I created. I went into Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > View. I checked the box marked "Show My Documents on the Desktop". The icon looks like the original and the search feature doesn't give an error. I know this distracted people from the original post about the recycling bin. I'm sorry about that. I'm glad I found the solution for the "My Desktop"/search engine problem and I hope that it helps somebody. I will now finish working on this PC. I think what I'm going to have to do is copy the files from the D: drive onto another drive, so that I can format it. I will then move the files back. I would rather find another solution, though.