System Cannot Find The File Specified Windows 10, 8, 7 (Solved)

“Recently I upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 on my personal computer. After the update, when I tried to log in my Windows account it was hanging. Suddenly a message prompted stated, System cannot find specified file. This message made me devastated! After which, I tried to log in on all my profiles but still, the problem persists. It is no longer allowing me to sign in into it. I need to fix this immediately, hence I am looking for some instant solution to fix this issue.”

Most of the users face such problems while trying to upgrade their system’s OS. To answer your queries related to such problems, we have come up with this article. Read more to have extensive knowledge on this.

What is System Cannot Find Specified File Error?

Basically, this error message may occur when a user tries to make a copy of his/her drive on Windows 10 or other versions. However, many experts haven’t identified the exact reason behind The system cannot find the file specified alert. They think this error is somewhat linked to error code 0x80070002 or 0x80070003, which indicate a problem with Windows update. Now, the error code may differ with respect to the failure type, OS specifications and so on. There is no proper information that confirms what triggers the system to prompt System Cannot Find Specified File message.

Possible Reasons Behind This Error Message

Some of the possible reasons that cause “System Cannot Find Specified File” error message can be due to missing driver file, connection problem, abnormal registry keys, incorrect file permission settings, corrupted files for the specified software, disk errors in the source volume, etc.

First Save Files, Then Fix System Cannot Find Specified File Error

Now, all the above-furnished solution does not provide a guaranteed solution to overcome System Cannot Find Specified File issue. After undergoing the Windows update, there are chances of losing your crucial files. So, what user can do here? As you might be looking for a relevant solution to restore the files. With the help of SysTools Windows Data Recovery Software, it becomes easy for the users to recover lost, corrupt, permanently deleted files. It is having endless features that even highlight files in red color. This helps users in finding the recovered files easily and also allows to save the restored file to the desired location.

Fix System Cannot Find Specified File in Windows Manually

There are multiple solutions to resolve the system cannot find specified files. All the methods are listed here. Simply perform the steps and get rid of the computer cannot find files specified error.

1. Verify System Log File to Fix Cannot Specified Error
2. Fix System Cannot Find Specified File using Registry Key
3. Install Windows Update to Fix Cannot Specified Error in Win 10, 8, 7
4. Launch Libraries Folder to Fix Computer Cannot Find Specified Files error

Solution #1: Verify the System Log Files to Resolve Not Specified Error

1. In this approach, navigate and go to C:/Windows/inf directory and open the INF folder
2. Then, find and open setupapi.dev or setupapi.dev.log file
3. Now, press Ctrl+F keys and in the search field type “cannot find the file” and hit the Enter key
4. This will help you to find the missing file, simply copy and paste the file into INF folder
5. After that, reinstall the driver and reboot the system

Solution #2: Fix System Cannot Find Specified Files Using Registry Keys

1. First of all, press Win+R key to open the Run window and type regedit
2. In order to secure the current registry condition, create the backup. For that, select the File menu and click the Export option
3. Then, provide the name for the registry backup >> Select All Under Export >> Click Save to fix “system cannot find specified file” issue
4. Using the left Registry Editor’s pane, locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>> SOFTWARE>> Microsoft>> Windows>> CurrentVersion key
5. Then, navigate the RunOnce key. If this key doesn’t exist, then click CurrentVersion key >> select New >> Key
6. Name the key as RunOnce and open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>> SOFTWARE>> Microsoft>> Windows>> CurrentVersion key
7. Now, expand and verify whether RunOnce have been created
8. After that, close the Registry Editor and restart Windows

Solution #3: Install Windows Update to Fix Cannot Find Specified Files Error

There are chances of  The system cannot find the file specified error, when user has not updated his Windows for a long time. Hence, the below process will help to install all pending updates.

1. To begin with, press Win+I and choose Update and Security option
2. Then, click Check for Updates and wait for some time
3. After this, the update list will be displayed, install all of them
4. Now, repeat these steps several times and ensure that all updates are installed on the system
5. At last, restart the computer to finish the installation of updates

Solution #4: Launch the Libraries Folder to Fix Cannot Specified Error

Sometimes, The system cannot find the file specified issue can be fixed by checking the missing files in the Libraries folder. This is because the Libraries folder is hidden by default in Windows 10.

1. From your system go to This PC and right-click the empty space from the left panel and select Show libraries option
2. After which, the Libraries folder is made available to fix System cannot find the specified file error message
   

Time to Conclude

Whenever The system cannot find the file specified error occurs. A user can make use of the aforementioned methods to troubleshoot this issue. Well, the manual method at times may not help you to fix this. In such case, immediately seek guidance from some technical specialist. If in case, if any data loss occurs while executing manually, then directly switch to Data Recovery Tool, which is a quick and smart recovery process.