I recently moved some files from my laptop to an external drive, and subsequently deleted the files from my laptop.

I did a start menu search, and blank shortcuts to the files I moved and deleted show up in the search. When I try to delete the files I get a "Item not found" error. When I right click and Open File Location, it opens an empty folder (C:\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent).

I have tried simply clearing my recent items list, that does clear the recent items, but the blank shortcuts still show up when I do a search.

I have tried everything I can think of, please help!

It is showing because the search feature in Vista has indexed the files and has not updated.
Here a good how to on rebuilding the search index.

How To Rebuild The Search Index In Windows Vista | AddictiveTips

squirrelnmoose you are awesome!! Thank you very much, your solution worked perfectly.

No problem, thanks for posting letting everyone know it worked for you.

i tried exactly what the website said but it didn't work. i want to remove a shortcut which the target has been deleted.
i use windows vista on a dell inspiron 6400 with intel centrino duo

If it's just a shortcut to a program, like on your desktop, you should be able to just right click on it and choose delete.

The reference above pertains to links showing up in a search result for files which are no longer on the PC but the search index hasn't updated to reflect the change.

If you can't, what error is it giving you and what is the shortcut for.