Windows – ‘Could not find this item’ error message on new hard drive

filesystemshard drivewindows 7

I have recently put a new hard drive in my laptop, and rebuilt my laptop from scratch, and now I get the following messages anytime that I try to create a file/folder or copy files/folders onto anywhere on this hard drive.

Could not find this item. This is no longer located in [path]. Verify the item's location and try again.

But the weird thing is, after this I click the 'Try Again' button and it works perfectly.

Is there anyway to avoid these error messages?

System details:

  • Windows 7 Professional, 32bit
  • 500GB, 7200rpm HDD
  • Laptop is hp 6730b
  • I have also split this hard drive into several partitions if this makes a difference.

Best Answer

People complain that this is due to windows update KB980408. But does not seem to be the case in all scenarios. I am not sure how up to date your install media of 7 is so this may not work.

Try a system restore to the point with no updates and see if that works. Bad news is you will probably auto get that update again :(

Also there is a reference to a registry fix Here You may want to check it out.

It seems to work for some people.

Good Luck