Red X on folders, files or Hard Drive
If you see the red X icon overlay then following these suggestions may help you. If it is happening for desktop icons, simply refreshing the desktop could help:
1] Reinstall your Cloud service app
If you have OneDrive, Dropbox, etc. installed on your computer, then it might be the one causing this issue. You need to either update these software or if that doesn’t help, uninstall it and fresh-install its latest version.
2] Disconnect the drive in case of Mapped drives
Open the Windows File Explorer. On the top ribbon, select the down arrow and select Disconnect network drive.
It will open a new dialog box which will list the letters allocated to partitions mapped will be listed. Select OK. And now all the Mapped drives will be disconnected. You can then Map it back if there is a need. Read: How to remove Green Check Marks on Desktop Icons in Windows
3] Update your computer and BIOS
You need to update your copy of Windows 10 and then update your computer’s BIOS. Reboot your computer. This has proven to have fixed this error for many.
4] Run CHKDSK
We will use the command line to run ChkDsk. Run CMD as an Administrator and execute the following command: It will either start checking for errors and fixing them, or it will show up a message saying – Hit Y for scheduling the Disk Check the next time the system restarts. Reboot your computer and let the chkdsk run. See if this has helped.
5] Clear icon cache
To clear the Icon cache, open the Windows Task Manager. Scroll down to Windows Explorer. Right-click on the listing and select End Task. Run the Windows Command Prompt as an Admin. Execute the following commands in the given order: Your icon cache will now clear and rebuilt now.
6] Disable Hard disk Write Protect
Some folks have reported that they had to disable Write Protection. See if that helps you.
7] Scan with an Antivirus
Sometimes viruses can damage a file and result in the errors like this too. It is advised that you perform a deep, full scan on your computer using the antivirus installed on your computer.
8] If it is just OneDrive?
If this error is only visible on the OneDrive icon and in the contents of the OneDrive folder, there might be chances that there is an issue with the OneDrive syncing. This post shows how to fix this & other OneDrive errors. We hope you found the steps easy to follow, and you were successful in resolving the issue.
