Vista - Vista says files no longer exist on desktop when they do

If I try to copy any file from my desktop to a usb drive I get a message
that 'This is no longer located in C:\Users\Mine\Desktop. Verify the item's
location and try again. My desktop is covered in files and any of them give
the same message.

Hi trevor,

Just one thing,
what you see on your desktop is actually the combination of of two locations, Your user desktop at C:\users\Username\desktop and the public desktop at C:\Users\Public\Desktop. which is a hidden system folder. it may be that the icons you see are actually on the public desktop right click on the shortcut and check in details if this is the case as this may be causing the error. You should have access rights to these public items but this may not be the case