Not possible to transfer any files.
Not possible to transfer any files.
New harddrive, fresh Win10 install. All current updates applied. Data transferred from the old drive to the new one without issues. Suddenly, I can't move any files across any drives—no matter the location. This affects all files, not just between drives. I can create and delete files, but moving them is impossible. No errors, only a red no icon appears when trying to move something. I’m using an admin account. I had a restore point before reinstalling apps and restoring from it, but the problem remains. I’m completely confused about what happened.
I also set up another admin user and switched accounts, but the issue continues. When trying to open File Explorer from quick launch, I get an error, though it works when I right-click the Start button.
To sum up, I can read, write, and delete files, but not move them. Files within the same directory can be copied, but not transferred to other folders. Many files are now restricted because they came from another computer. (Writing this while I keep troubleshooting)
Almost every folder is now marked as read-only. If I uncheck it, the folder properties still show read-only. I can move files to subfolders, but not restore the full hierarchy.
Currently, I can copy files via command line and paste them in Explorer, but drag-and-drop isn’t working.
Claim control over your files/folders.
Please note you cannot take ownership of C:\Windows; doing so will damage the OS and require a reinstall.
Replace and reinsert the quick launch icon.
I own the files and can carry out all tasks without using the explorer drag-and-drop method. This suggests the problem might be linked to a corrupted explorer or similar software.
I ran the following commands:
sfc /scannow
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
The scan indicated it resolved the corrupted files. I restarted the system but saw no improvement. I’ll try a Windows repair to see if it fixes the issue.
You might consider performing this action, as it replaces all system files without any loss of data, programs, or settings.
In short, your registry is corrupted and that's not something that can be restored by System Restore or fixed with sfc since there's nothing at all wrong with the files.
If you unpin the Explorer shortcut from the taskbar and re-pin it but it still doesn't work, or no desktop shortcuts work, that means the .lnk file association in the registry broke. You can
look here
for how to fix it in the registry under LNK. There's also a Folder association fix there which may help with the move problem, but who knows what else is broken so it's recommended to reinstall Windows. As for
why
it got corrupted, could be unstable memory or something.
Windows 10 also has a "Reset all default apps" feature under Settings > Apps > Default apps but I've never tried it.
Some registry entries related to the explorer were missing. I was able to fix the issue where explorer didn<|pad|>, but couldn't resolve the other main problem. I tried repairing the installation, but it reported it couldn't fix the issue. Since this was a fresh install, I chose to wipe the drive and reinstall cleanly. Up to now, there have been no further issues.
Where did you obtain the windows ISO? Review the new hard drive using tools such as CrystalDiskInfo. Have you set up any third-party copying software like teracopy?