Windows 7 Folder has shortcut to Itself inside and will not delete

[ChristopherS]

Hi all,

I solved my own problem but I thought that I would post the solution here. I did not see anything on the net for the issue I was having but I am sure it comes up from time to time.

I accidentally created a shortcut inside a folder to itself. I was clicking on the file path at the top and BOOM, suddenly there was a shortcut to the folder INSIDE the folder!

When I went to delete the shortcut the system went into an infinite loop and just kept saying ...deleting....

I tried chkdsk and safe mode but neither worked. Same problem with the infinite delete.

I finally shared the folder out to my network, logged off my system, went to another system and deleted the shortcut from the folder. I figured that the network access, since it does not use the recycle bin, is enough different to allow for the short cut to be deleted.

It worked.

 

[zvit]

I tried to recreate your problem. Created a folder and then a shortcut of that folder inside the folder itself. The shortcut deleted fine.

 

[ChristopherS]

I just recreated the exact same problem on two other systems. Caused the same error. Don't know why it deleted fine from your system.