Windows 7 C:\Users\<Username>\Desktop is not accessible

[superuki]

Hello kind sirs... This problem has been bugging me since I got it.

When I booted up my laptop my desktop lost all its icons and a dialog box popped up saying:

Location is not available

C:\Users\<Username>\Desktop is not accessible.

The directory name is invalid.

I went to the C:\Users\<Username>\ directory and saw that my Desktop folder became a file...

When I try to open the Desktop.. the open with dialog box came out. I tried creating a new folder with the same name (Desktop) and Windows says that a folder with the same name already exists..

However when I right click on it and tried going to properties, then the Previous Versions tab.. I can actually recover my old files (1 week ago.. but I still need the current ones and of course use my desktop as well). How can I fix this T_T.

I believe that the directory got corrupted somehow during a write operation.. I already tried using chkdsk and sfc -scannow.. but it didn't help. *sigh*. Is there anyway to make it into a folder again?

 

[Josephur]

Judging by what you have in that screenshot there, the file system did become corrupt at one point. It looks like that truely is a 0kb file for some reason now probably due to corruption. You have a few things you could try;

If there was important data contained on that desktop then you might consider using one of the free file recovery tools available to see if you can recover it before you go further..

Login as another user, delete the file, recreate a folder called Desktop
Log back in as the original user with the issue and they should at least see the default icons from the All Users profile on the desktop now, and it should function normally.

Keep us posted

 

[superuki]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. I have backed up most of the files that can still be recovered. A friend told me that I can reduce the chance for write errors in the disk by disabling write caching on the disk. Is this recommended?

Still a bit disappointed though that I cannot fix it in a "normal" way.