Cannot Rename or Move a File or Folder in Vista Fix

Cannot Rename or Move a File or Folder in Vista Fix​

   Information

If you recieve the error The File or Folder does not exist when you cannot move or rename a file or folder, then this will show you how to fix this problem in Vista.

   Note

This problem usually occurs when this registry key or it's subkeys below gets corrupted, changed, or deleted. This is usually done by a registry cleaning program that was allowed to delete (fix) something it found wrong that should not have been.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FolderDescriptions

   Tip

If the steps below do not help, then take ownership of the file or folder, then try to move or rename it again. For how, see: How to Take Ownership of a Item in Vista

EXAMPLE: The File or folder does not exist. Error Message

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STEP ONE

Disable Offline Files

   Note

This will only apply to the Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions. If you do not have one of these editions, then skip this section and go to STEP TWO below.

1. Open the Control Panel (Classic View).​

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2. Click on the Offline Files icon.​

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3. Click on the Disable Offline Files button. (See screenshot below step 5)​

NOTE: If it says Enable Offline Files instead, then click on it and click Apply and then click Disable Offline Files.​

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4. Click on Continue in the UAC prompt.​

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5. Click on OK.​

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6. Click on Yes to restart the computer. (See sceenshot below)​

WARNING: To prevent any loss of data, be sure to save and close all open programs before clicking Yes.​

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STEP TWO

Restore Registry Settings

   Note

• This will restore the default entries and settings for the registry key at the top of the tutorial. Be sure to download the 32 bit or 64 bit version for your version of Vista. To see what bit version you have of Vista, open the Control Panel (Classic View) and click the System icon, or right click Computer in the Start Menu and click Properties. You will see the bit version under the System type section.
• If this involves a New folder, then you should also do this tutorial. See: How to Fix New Folder in Vista

1. For the 32 bit version of Vista -​

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A) Click on the download button below to download the reg file below.​

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Fix_Rename_32_Bit_ Vista.reg​

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B) Go to step 3.​

2. For the 64 bit version of Vista -​

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A) Click on the download button below to download the reg file below.​

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Fix_Rename_64_Bit_Vista.reg​

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3. Save the .reg file to the Desktop.​

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4. Right click on the downloaded .reg file and click on Merge.​

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5. Click on the Run button in the Security Warning pop-up.​

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6. Click on Continue (UAC-Vista) or Yes (UAC-Windows 7), Yes, and then OK when prompted.​

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7. Restart the computer to apply the restoration.​

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8. When done, you can delete the .reg file (on Desktop).​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Fix New Folder in Vista
• How to Pin a Folder to the Start Menu in Vista
• How to Repair and Verify the Integrity of Vista System Files with System File Checker
• How to Restore Previous Versions of a File and Folder in Vista
• How to Open and Change Folder Options in Vista
• How To Perform a Repair Installation For Vista
• How to Do a System Restore in Vista
• How to Take Ownership of a Item in Vista
• How to Set and Unset the Read-only File and Folder Attribute in Vista
• How to Fix Game Shortcut Links in Vista Games Explorer

 

[Brink]

Hello Dean, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Do you have any security programs installed that may block downloads such as this?

Double check to make sure that you also have cookies enable for the website and try again to see if it will download for you.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[billm11]

Help! I do not get the error screen message, but when I try to rename a new or existing folder, it keeps reverting back to the original name. I have tried it on other drives to no avail. It will rename a shortcut, or a file name, but not a folder.

Thanks

 

[Ardneh]

billm11:

Have you checked the folders' Properties to see if they are marked as Read Only?

Right-click the folder and click Properties.

 

[billm11]

They are read only, and now I can't change that. I CAN change the icon. I do try to uncheck read-only, but when I open properties again, it still reads read only. Now checking, and all my folders have 'read only' checked. Not sure why. How do I fix?

Thanks.

 

[Ardneh]

billm11:

Sounds suspicious.
Try a Malwarebytes scan in Safe Mode to start.


Sorry, it occurs to me that read-only is normal for folders.
What isn't normal is Vista "taking it seriously" and not allowing renaming.


Taking Ownership may help.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67717-take-ownership-file.html

Of course that's already part of this tutorial and you have tried all
the steps in the tutorial?

Another thing that is worth trying is to create a new User Account,
and see if the problem persists there. If not move into the new account
and delete the old one.

 

[billm11]

Thanks, I will try that later today and let you know what happens.

 

[sirnoble250ex]

Hello, I am having a very similar problem,

I have Vista Home Premium 64bit. I can cut, copy, delete, paste files. But I can't cut, paste, restore (In the recycle bin), or rename folders. I have done registry scans and have tried Fix_Rename_64_Bit_Vista.reg
NewFolderFix.reg
Add_Take_Ownership.reg
With no success.

 

[Brink]

Hello SirNoble, and welcome to Vista Forums.

As a test, create a new administrator account to see if everything works ok in it instead.

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

 

[DeanofReno]

Yes, thanks for the get back. I already made a new admin account and transferred everything over and deleted the old account. Dean

 

[Brink]

Dean,

I'm happy to hear that you got everything sorted out.

 

[Sheaty]

Hello, I'm running 32bit Vista and i joined this Forum for some help.

When I create new folders and hit "enter" they are changed to "New Folder" and I can not move any folder any where. It simply won't move. I do not get an error message saying "The File or Folder does not exist."

nothing simply happens.
I tried to download this fix but I get a .download file and my computer can't read that.

 

[Brink]

Hello Sheaty, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Double check to make sure that the file extension type REG is set with a Current Default program of regedit in Default Programs. You may need to browse to it's location at C:\Windows\regedit.exe to select it. Afterwards, see if the REG file will work for you properly.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[sirnoble250ex]

I created a new administrative account and tried to log on and it said,

"User Profile Service service failed the logon
User profile cannot be loaded"

So now I can't log on as the administrator and the problem still exists

 

[Brink]

See if doing a System Restore at boot using a restore point dated before you had this problem may be able to fix it for you.

 

[sirnoble250ex]

I can't do a system restore since I can't long on as the administrator... I did do one a few days ago right after the problem emerged and it had no effect.

 

[Brink]

SirNoble,

Since you are getting the user profile error, then you might also see if this may be able to help.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/1...-failed-logon-user-profile-cannot-loaded.html

 

[sirnoble250ex]

I restarted my computer and this time it let me log on as the administrator and so I did a system restore as far back as I could and the problem is gone. Thank you so much for the help.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome SirNoble. I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted.

 

[Sureshkoorse]

This fix did not work for me. I have Vista Ultimate X32. I cannot rename a folder.
I have tried the steps
1. Go to control panel and changed offline folders options to Enable offline files
2.Reboot the computer
3.Ran the registry file.
4.Reboot the computer and yet I cannot change the folder name

Appreciate your help

Suhas

 

[Brink]

Hello Suhas, and welcome to Vista Forums.

What is the name and location of the folder? You may need to take ownership of the folder first before it will allow you to.

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn