Stubborn Icon

M

MrScribe

New Member
I have an icon on my desktop that I cannot erase (at least I think it is only an icon). It was generated from a torrent download to my desktop, and it was an MP4 file. I stopped the torrent download before the file was complete, and subsequently tried to erase the file. I believe the file was erased, but the icon is still on my desktop. I am running a Vista system. When I try to erase the file, Eraser freezes and does not show any progress. I have tried running Eraser in safe mode with the same result. I always have to restart my computer to thaw it. I have updated to Eraser 5.8.7 with no change in the process.
 
What is the size of the icon? What torrent application are you using?

Joel
 
I use Bit Torrent. I do not know how large the icon is. The original file was to be 1.42 Gb,but the file is not there.
 
So what's left is the .lnk file (the shortcut) to the file which you managed to erase? Are you able to open the shortcut with Notepad? You should see garbage in the screen when you do.

Joel
 
I cannot open the file in Notepad. An error message opens that says the file is too large.

When I try to open the file in Wordpad, it locks my computer. The progress bar shows 0%, 1%, 2%, and then goes back to 0%. When I try to close Wordpad, I get an error message "Logon process has failed to create the security options dialog."

There must be more to the file than just the icon, but less than the entire file.
 
Perhaps it's a corrupted disk. Did you run chkdsk?

Joel
 
Can you post the properties of the file? The stuff you see in the File Properties dialog.
 
When I click on 'properties', nothing will display.

When I mouse over the icon, it displays:
Type: MPEG-4 movie
Size: 1.42 MB
Date Modified: 08/24/2009

MrScribe
 
Go to the command prompt. cd to C:\Users\<your username>\Desktop. Type "dir /x" and hit enter. Copy and paste the content here (right click > Mark; select the area and press enter to copy the text.)
 
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


C:\Users\MrScribe>dir /x
Volume in drive C is HP
Volume Serial Number is AC15-A5E3

Directory of C:\Users\MrScribe

11/07/2009 08:43 PM <DIR> .
11/07/2009 08:43 PM <DIR> ..
04/27/2008 12:13 PM <DIR> JOGL_E~1 .jogl_ext
04/27/2008 12:14 PM <DIR> SV93D0~1 .sv
11/04/2009 01:59 AM <DIR> Desktop
09/13/2009 11:05 PM <DIR> DOCUME~1 Documents
11/23/2009 03:23 AM <DIR> DOWNLO~1 Downloads
05/18/2009 03:34 AM <DIR> FAVORI~1 Favorites
08/30/2007 05:28 AM <DIR> Links
12/26/2009 12:21 AM <DIR> Music
12/05/2009 02:28 AM <DIR> Pictures
04/01/2008 11:53 AM <DIR> PROGRA~1 Program Files
04/18/2007 08:26 PM <DIR> SAVEDG~1 Saved Games
08/30/2007 05:28 AM <DIR> Searches
12/31/2009 01:56 PM <DIR> Videos
11/07/2009 08:39 PM <DIR> {1B801~1 {1b801a94-39dd-4056-a08e-9f8
c4a43d9b8}
0 File(s) 0 bytes
16 Dir(s) 154,134,487,040 bytes free

C:\Users\MrScribe>
 
You're listing your profile directory, not the Desktop directory, cd to Desktop before doing the dir again.
 
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\MrScribe>cd c:\users\mrscribe\desktop

c:\Users\MrScribe\Desktop>dir /x
Volume in drive C is HP
Volume Serial Number is AC15-A5E3

Directory of c:\Users\MrScribe\Desktop

11/04/2009 01:59 AM <DIR> .
11/04/2009 01:59 AM <DIR> ..
04/04/2008 09:24 PM 2,006 3DPINB~1.LNK 3D Pinball Unlimited Sharewa
re.lnk
12/12/2008 06:56 PM 754 Audacity.lnk
06/30/2009 06:55 AM 820 BEJEWE~1.LNK Bejeweled 2.lnk
08/31/2007 03:52 PM 1,835 BELLSO~1.LNK BellSouthr Internet Services
Dialer.lnk
05/05/2007 02:38 PM 1,509 BRIDGE~1.LNK Bridge Base Online.lnk
08/07/2009 02:34 AM 947 CUCUSO~1.LNK Cucusoft AVI to VCD DVD MPEG
Creator Pro.lnk
08/22/2009 03:01 PM 804 EMAILS~1.LNK EmailStripper.lnk
10/03/2007 11:14 PM 1,796 GAMETO~1.LNK GameTop.com.lnk
07/09/2009 03:11 AM 1,095 GRABOI~1.LNK Graboid Video.lnk
04/21/2008 04:14 PM 897 JIGSAW~1.LNK Jigsaw Puzzle Platinum.lnk
07/31/2009 07:06 AM 1,704 LIMEWI~1.LNK LimeWire 5.2.12.lnk
11/04/2009 01:59 AM 1,702 LIMEWI~2.LNK LimeWire 5.3.6.lnk
10/03/2007 11:14 PM 955 MAGICJ~1.LNK Magic Jigsaw.lnk
10/03/2007 11:14 PM 1,792 SUNNYG~1.LNK Sunny Games.com.lnk
04/27/2008 12:15 PM 217 TRACKP~1.URL Trackpass RaceView.URL
01/28/2008 09:07 PM 753 WEATHE~1.LNK Weather Watcher.lnk
16 File(s) 19,586 bytes
2 Dir(s) 154,007,187,456 bytes free

c:\Users\MrScribe\Desktop>cd c:\users\mrscribe\desktop
 
It doesn't look like it's there any more. Let me rewrite everything I know so that you can verify I got the correct picture:

  1. You download a file to the desktop
  2. You erase the file
  3. Eraser finishes the erasure, icon is still on desktop
  4. Nothing you do to the file will succeed? But rebooting will get rid of the icon?

This sounds like you just need to refresh the desktop, press F5 or right-click on empty desktop space and select Refresh to clear t.
 
I downloaded the file to my desktop, but I interrupted the download because it was too slow. The file never completely downloaded. I tried to erase the file with Eraser, but my computer freezes every time, as it does with the 'delete' key (to the Recycle Bin). Refreshing the desktop and rebooting have no effect.

Right-clicking on the icon causes Windows Explorer to freeze. This may not be an Eraser issue at all, but any and all help would be appreciated.
 
One of the last things I can think of (which may be completely irrelevant) would be the BagMRU registry key (google it on how to remove it and its consequences..) If that doesn't work I don't think there's any remedy I can think of... sorry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top