Could not find this item. This is no longer located in computer. Verify the item location and try again.

[dusabrive]

I'm having a problem manually backing up a folder that contains many smaller folders, files, documents, photos etc to an external hard drive. Things got convoluted and complicated when during the initial copying attempt, my computer accidently shut down.  From that point on, the situation snowballed after I trashed the first copy folder attempt.  Long story short, I've made numerous copies, attempted to drag them manually to the external hard drive (E),  wasn't able to do it, renamed them and then dragged them back to the desktop and now I have a problem I can't sovle.

   For the sake of simplicity,  I have 2 folders named "BackUp files".  One is on my C drive and the other is on my E drive (external hard drive).  They're both the exact same size,  and have the exact number of folders and files in them.

I'm attempting to copy the one on my desktop to the external hard drive as insurance because even though they both open,  I don't know which one may be tainted.  (I really don't want to lose this information.)     For example,  I can't drag the folder on my desktop to the E (external) drive because I get the following message:  "COULD NOT FIND THIS ITEM.   THIS IS NO LONGER LOCATED IN THE COMPUTER.  VERIFY THE ITEM LOCATION AND TRY AGAIN.

How can I resolve this  problem?

[holdum333]

Hi @dusabrive I think you are saying you have a folder on your desktop that you want to copy to a external drive??

I have never attempted to drag some thing from the desk top to a external drive. I usually right click on it and then click send to the external drive. Can you open the file to see what's in it?? It sounds like the file doesn't exist !

I'm a little confused when you say one is on your C drive and one is on your external  E drive, and then you mention you're trying to drag one from your desktop and get a error??

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

Have you tried to right click and copy/paste it? OR as Holdum suggested, right click and send to the external drive?

 

[holdum333]

Hi @allheart55 (Cindy E) Thanks for joining in on this post and helping. After reading the post several times. I'm wondering about all this renaming and  dragging. Also where is the original file. Are you saying that you have a copy of this file on a external drive and you want to copy it again to a external drive??

2 hours ago, dusabrive said:

 Long story short, I've made numerous copies, attempted to drag them manually to the external hard drive (E),  wasn't able to do it, renamed them and then dragged them back to the desktop and now I have a problem I can't sovle.

 

[holdum333]

I'm really not sure what's going on, have you checked what the MS community is saying about your error!

[dusabrive]

In my desperation to correct the situation, I've created a real mess.     I started out having  the original folder on my desktop and I was trying to copy it to the external hard drive as a back up;  Every month or so, I swap  the folder on the  desk top with the folder on the external hard drive.  This is how I manually back up.   

   When the message appeared:  "the folder wasn't on the computer etc....", I then dragged it to the c drive.  So now there are actually 3 folders.  

 I did  alot of renaming and dragging;  I now realize that the folder on the external hard drive is "bigger" than the other two ( c drive and desktop) .  The one on the external hard drive is  the one I want to keep.  But just to be sure that I can drag it back after I upgrade to Windows 10,  I attempted to drag it back to the desktop now but I still get the original "Could not find this item. This is no longer located in computer. Verify the item location and try again."  message.  I don't know how to ensure that I'll be able to drag the the folder I want to keep (E)  back to the desktop after I upgrade to Windows 10.

Lastly, if this isn't confusing enough the folder on the c drive has a different name than the other two.

 

[holdum333]

Hi @dusabrive I have read your post 5 times and I have to admit, I'm totally confused. If you have a folder on a external drive and it's the one you want to keep, where is the problem?  If I have a folder on my External hard drive and I want to restore it to my computer, I simply right click and send it to documents, or in your case send it to your desk top. My choice would be to send the folder to my documents! Sorry If I haven't understood what you're trying to do. I seldom drag and drop. I copy and paste as Cindy recommended or right click and send the data where I want it.

Hope this screen shot helps!

 

[holdum333]

Hi @dusabrive I'm curious about the size of the folder you are working with. I just sent a folder that was on my external drive; that was nearly 5GB, to my documents, and it took less then 3 minutes. I don't know why anyone would want a large folder on their desktop! I think you are making some thing that is very easy; very hard IMHO!

[gus]

Sorry to be late here, but as long as you have one good copy of your Folder/files why not use a Sync program, perhaps FreeFileSync, which will make a perfect copy to or from whichever locations you wish, then you can maintain the exact copy as you change the original . Syncing is somewhat similar to backing up for whatever files/folders you wish.   

[holdum333]

Hey @gus I've never used the program you mention; but here's a link to it, and it looks like some thing @dusabrive  might be interested in !!

Never to late when suggesting solutions. I'm going to give the program a closer look!

http://www.freefilesync.org/

[gus]

Possibly highjacking the thread here but there are many free and portable file syncing applications along with many commercial ones to choose. Here's a link to free and portable ones that might be handy? I mentioned FreeFileSync as it it one of the simplest free apps of its type, just use Unchecky or look out for "Extras" when installing it.

http://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?sc=137

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/03/17/whats-the-best-free-file-synchronization-software-for-windows/

[Rich-M]

Many File and Data backup programs have synch as an option rather than simply scheduling and copying. Handi Backup I used for years did that and also NTI Backup also in addition to the ones Gus mentioned.