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Question

(PC) jpeg file comes up in search, but I can't open it.

Jan 4, 2015 12:15AM PST

I have thousands of pictures saved on my computer. I pull up the folder they're in & do a search for a certain picture. The search results come back (By the name of the picture and a blank icon - jpeg in this case). BUT when I click on the actual picture, it says "File not found." Weird that it files come up in searches, but gives me that message. This is not for all pictures, but some. At one point, I had these thousands of pictures in one folder, but searches took too long. So I cut and pasted them into separate folders: A, B, C, etc .. (Since I name my pics). I researched this trying to find out why and of course was getting many internet results, but none of them addressed this particular issue. If anyone has any insight, it would be welcomed, some of these pictures are irreplaceable.

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Do you have backups? Antivirus? Antimalware?
Jan 4, 2015 12:22AM PST

Do you have backups? Antivirus? Antimalware? Have you checked for corrupt system files with SFC? All of these are things you should be doing, but you didn't mention any of these.

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Answer
This sounds as if the search found it in the Library.
Jan 4, 2015 12:26AM PST

I won't duplicate the web on this but some apps won't open from a Library path to the file. That's different from the classic drive:\path\filename.jpg or FQFN ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fully_qualified_name ).

Some apps like Paint.Net seem to be OK with either path.

I don't see where you tried File Open in the paint app and navigating to where you found the file.
Bob

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Answer
bad sector?
Jan 5, 2015 3:55AM PST

File locations are saved in a table, but the file may no longer be there. Running chkdsk might fix the problem. Another way is to then run defrag, because it tries a number of times to read any bad sector, move the file, and then mark that sector bad. Defrag can take hours, when I used windows I would run it at night while I was in bed.