Desktop folders deleting seemingly without reasons

I work with images on my desktop and am constantly saving new ones, deleting old ones, highlighting current ones and occasionally dragging them for work. I have some locked icons which need admin access to delete and 2 folders I made which do not have restrictions as well as a shortcut that does not have restrictions. It has happened several times that the images I have selected will suddenly disappear into the recycle bin as well as the two folders I have on the desktop, but not the other unrestricted shortcut. I had not thought much of it until yesterday when the folders were permanently deleted - up until that point I merely assumed I was making some error by going too fast. I found the shortcuts for these folders in the bin but when restored it gave the error "the contents associated this shortcut can't be found" (or something like that).

Regrettably, like I said, I work with so many images so quickly I'm not sure exactly when this event happens. It might just be when I am highlighting, or it might be when I am dragging, or when I release from a drag. It may have absolutely nothing to do with the images either, I don't know. I lost some fairly important information but nothing that cannot eventually be replicated. Do you have any ideas? Windows will also alternate between letting me click the windows icon on the bottom left and not letting me, as well as not letting me type in the search bar. Perhaps these are all related to a glitchy copy of windows, I don't know.

Thanks again. Let me know what else I can provide you with.