Various Problems: Can't delete shortcuts or certain folders; printer & XBox360 issues

System Specifications

System Manufacturer/Model Number: Hewlett Packard Pavilion NC747AA-ABA a6763w
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit (6.0, Build 6001) with Service Pack 1
CPU: AMD Phenom 9150e Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~1.8GHz
Motherboard: ECS MCP61PM-HM (Nettle3)
Memory: 7038MB RAM
Graphic Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Sound Card: Realtek HD Audio ALC888S
Monitor Display: HP w2207h
Keyboard: HP Enhanced Multimedia PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse: Microsoft PS/2 Compatible Mouse
Internet Speed: 100.0 Mbps

Hello. My name is Russell, I'm an advanced computer user, and I'm new here. I've been having a lot of problems with Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1, as I try to adjust to a new operating system. In the past, I have used Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 on a Gateway computer, and now we've upgraded to a new Hewlett Packard Pavilion when the Gateway stopped working. We needed to upgrade anyway, so I'm thankful to have updated equipment to work with. However, I'm often running into issues with Vista.

One problem that I've been having is that when I try to delete a desktop icon that no longer leads to a file, that is I uninstalled the program the icon had been a shortcut to and now need to remove the shortcut, Vista gives me an error message and the icon remains on the desktop.

"Item Not Found

Could not find this item.

This is no longer located in C:\foobar\foobar\foobar.Ink. Verify the item's location and try again.

Try Again
Cancel"

I have tried moving the desktop icon to the Recycle Bin, right clicking the icon and choosing "Delete", and pressing the "Delete" key. All of these methods give me the same error message. Depending on which method that I use to try to delete the icon, choosing "Try Again" may or may not actually try to delete the file again, yet if it does try again, then the same error message reappears. Continually choosing "Try Again" will lead to an infinite, never-ending cycle of the same error message. I don't understand why Vista will not let me delete a useless desktop shortcut. I never had this problem with XP, and a friend who also has Vista says that he does not experience this problem when replicating the situation.

Another problem that I've been having is that Vista will sometimes state that "Permission is required" to perform an action such as deleting a folder, yet I'm the administrator and there is no option to "Run as administrator" when dealing with a folder. I find that if I delete the contents of the folder, and then the folder itself, I am allowed to delete the folder. This baffles me. The folders that appear to be affected by this curiosity are either in Start > Programs, C:\Programs Files, C:\Program Files (86x), or C:\Program Files (86x) (86x). A somewhat off-topic question is why are there three different "Program Files" folders to begin with? There was only one (Just simply "Program Files") on Windows XP.

I think that Vista is also sometimes spontaneously resetting my Firewall settings, and re-blocking my printer after I've already successfully unblocked it and printed with it. I had to install a printer driver that would work with a 64-bit version of Vista, and installing this driver created Firewall exceptions for my Lexmark X3350 printer. Other people have also experienced problems with getting Vista to accept a Lexmark 3000 series printer, most of which have not had any luck despite contacting Tech Support, or if their problem was fixed by Tech Support remotely accessing the computer and fixing it themselves, then the problem would only temporarily disappear to reappear later. I find that if the printer suddenly stops working, I can get it to function again by reinstalling the appropriate driver which recreates the Firewall exceptions. Restarting or shutting down the computer does not replicate this problem, so it appears to be spontaneous which doesn't make sense to me.

Because I cannot replicate the problem at will, I can only recall the error happening by memory. When Vista is not recognizing the Lexmark X3350 printer despite being properly installed with the appropriate driver, if I try to print a document made by Microsoft Works Word Processor then I'm asked to "Save As" the file, and another vague message appears that doesn't offer any real information and doesn't appear to be an error message but instead a type of in-progress message.

[SOLVED] The last problem that I will mention in this post is that Vista blocks my XBox360 from accessing anything else but Windows Media Center. I don't know how to make a Firewall exception for my XBox360 other than the automated exception that was made for Windows Media Center when registering the XBox360 as an extender for that program. I know how to access the Firewall settings from the Control Panel, but that's only for programs on the computer itself and not devices such as the XBox360 that are connected to it. When I try to access anything other than Windows Media Center on the computer via my XBox360, my XBox360 tells me that it cannot identify the PC and that it cannot make a connection to it.

[SOLUTION] To fix my problem with connecting to my XBox360, I went to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center, and turned on Media Sharing. The settings for Media Sharing were set to Allow for my XBox360. Now the two devices connect properly and work fine together.

Thank you for your attention and any assistance provided.

Regards,
Russ