Windows 11 will not delete or copy files

  • Thread starter Jezza819
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Jezza819

Jezza819

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United States
Alabamistan
I'm having a problem with my gaming PC. It's Windows 11. I tried to delete a file and copy another one and it would not perform either command. I just get this popup saying it's "preparing" and it will just sit there forever if you let it. How can I fix this?

Screenshot 2024-05-26 171114.png
 
Jezza819
The one I was trying to delete is 265mb.
Click to expand...
Okay, not that big. I saw someone had a similar problem with very big files, but probably a different problem then.
You can try to delete the file by shift-delete, that should bypass the discovery part. But then the file is permanently deleted and you won’t be able to retrieve it from the recycling bin. And it doesn’t solve the copying problem.
 
eran0004
Okay, not that big. I saw someone had a similar problem with very big files, but probably a different problem then.
You can try to delete the file by shift-delete, that should bypass the discovery part. But then the file is permanently deleted and you won’t be able to retrieve it from the recycling bin. And it doesn’t solve the copying problem.
Click to expand...
Yeah it's very strange. I've never seen it before. I've deleted files 10 times that size and they just go instantly.
 
eran0004
Okay, not that big. I saw someone had a similar problem with very big files, but probably a different problem then.
You can try to delete the file by shift-delete, that should bypass the discovery part. But then the file is permanently deleted and you won’t be able to retrieve it from the recycling bin. And it doesn’t solve the copying problem.
Click to expand...
I tried it again today and it deleted it with no "preparing" so I don't know what got into it the other day.
 
Jezza819
I tried it again today and it deleted it with no "preparing" so I don't know what got into it the other day.
Click to expand...
I've had files do something similar where they won't delete, a reboot of my PC has fixed it every time... so far.
 
FPV MIC
I've had files do something similar where they won't delete, a reboot of my PC has fixed it every time... so far.
Click to expand...
The PC I'm on now is my everyday old system that is Windows 10. Occasionally the Explorer box will hang up when trying to search for something and you can't close it without going into task manager to reset it. But I do restart it once every week.
 
Jezza819
The PC I'm on now is my everyday old system that is Windows 10. Occasionally the Explorer box will hang up when trying to search for something and you can't close it without going into task manager to reset it. But I do restart it once every week.
Click to expand...
:eek: I restart mine every day... and it's not very old... but it is very, very full which slows it down a lot, and causes some hanging issues.
 
FPV MIC
:eek: I restart mine every day... and it's not very old... but it is very, very full which slows it down a lot, and causes some hanging issues.
Click to expand...
I was doing that until my power button failed a couple of years ago. That's I went to the once a week thing. It takes Chrome about 30 seconds or more to open up a new browser window so I know about the hanging up thing.
 
I had something similar for a couple of months, and I thought it was some kind of virus. Turns out, it was my SSD dying, which I couldn't guess until it completely died on me at one point. I realized this when I tried to reinstall the system on it.
 
Open up a command prompt with administrator rights.

type SFC /scannow

Let that finish.

type chkdsk /f

Command will likely say that it needs to reboot in order to do so. Do what it says on screen.
 
Jezza819
I was doing that until my power button failed a couple of years ago.
Click to expand...

I got myself one of these because I couldn't be bothered racing down to my machine each time.

www.ebay.co.uk

2m/4m External Remote Start Portable LED Lights PC Switch On/Off Button for Cafe | eBay

Move the power on button of the desktop computer to a place convenient for operation. Sufficient wire length: 2m/4m long cable. There is a solid double-sided adhesive tape at the bottom to ensure it can be fixed on the table.
www.ebay.co.uk
 

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