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Old 08-11-2005, 07:53 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Deleting a File that's "in use"

I have a file that I'm trying to delete and I keep getting an error message that says "unable to delete, this file is being used by another application, please exit the application" or something like that. Is there an easy way to see what progam is using this file so I can stop it and delete the program?
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Old 08-11-2005, 07:56 AM   #2 (permalink)
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What is the file extension?
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Old 08-11-2005, 08:35 AM   #3 (permalink)
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Its a .exe file that's showing as a DOS file. I'm running XP..
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Old 08-11-2005, 09:16 AM   #4 (permalink)
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As much as they say it doesn't, XP still runs off DOS. I'd make damn sure it's not a system file (try googling the filename and extension) before you deleted. If its for-sure critical to delete, boot into safe mode. Hit f8 right before windows boots, and select it. It won't start any services, and it'll likely stop whatever program was using the file in the first place.
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Old 08-11-2005, 09:33 AM   #5 (permalink)
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some virii will use critical files to infect the system..in that case you need to obtain a clean copy of the file and then run an app that gets rid of the file and replaces it with the good one. I'm jumping to conclusions though.

Do as Jinnkai said and give us the full file name
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Old 08-11-2005, 09:44 AM   #6 (permalink)
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I have had this problem. If you want to delete it than use the following share ware programme: http://www.gibinsoft.net/gipoutils/fileutil/index.htm
This programme will delete the file next time you boot up.
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Old 08-11-2005, 09:50 AM   #7 (permalink)
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easiest way to do this is to go to task manager (control alt delete) and End Process on every single process but Explorer.exe. then try to delete the file. I bet it will work. if it doesn't, restart Windows, and then try to delete it. If that doesn't work, try Arc101's suggestion.
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Old 08-11-2005, 10:05 AM   #8 (permalink)
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Oddly enough its a patch for World of Warcraft, its virus-free and I got it off Allakazam's website. Warcraft isn't running at all, and I checked my processes and didn't see anything that I would think using it.

Thanks for the input, gonna try it tonight after work...
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Old 08-11-2005, 11:38 AM   #9 (permalink)
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Boot to safe mode and del33t.
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Old 08-11-2005, 09:45 PM   #10 (permalink)
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Catdaddy33
I have a file that I'm trying to delete and I keep getting an error message that says "unable to delete, this file is being used by another application, please exit the application" or something like that. Is there an easy way to see what progam is using this file so I can stop it and delete the program?
Sadly, there is no simple method to do so and certainly no built-in mechanism for reporting such obviously useful information. However, there is a free utility that will let you discover what you want to know.

It's called Process Explorer and it's available for free download from your friends (who wrote it) at SysInternals. It's like Task Mananager, only more powerful.

Just install Process Explorer and run it. You will see a family tree of processes. Go to the "Find" menu and select "Find Handle..." and type in the file name you are looking for. What this will do is search through all running processes for an open handle to a file matching that name. If the file really is locked by another process, this will reveal what that process is. After you've figured out what process has locked this file, you can decide what to do about it.

Incidentally, if it's an .exe, then it sounds pretty suspcious that it's locked. I mean, are you sure it's not running? I know you checked your processes but... check again. I don't know what you think might "use" a .exe file but perhaps you didn't actually check to see if it was running...

Of course, you can try to boot into safe mode and hope it won't be running but... who wants to reboot?
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Old 08-12-2005, 03:36 AM   #11 (permalink)
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I never made it upstairs last night to try and get rid of it. I'll try that proggy Knifemissle, that's what I was looking for cause I'm curious what is using it...
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Old 08-13-2005, 07:52 PM   #12 (permalink)
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Mmmmk, I found out the explorer.exe has the files locked and I cannot stop that process and delete the prog. Safe mode doesnt work either...
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Old 08-16-2005, 07:10 AM   #13 (permalink)
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i've got the same problem at home ... damn file on my desktop won't delete. was a driver update for something or other (i forget) that is self-extracting exe file. can't move it, rename it, or delete it even in safe mode. think i'm going to try a live system CD for linux, mount my winXP partition, and delete from there. let you know if it works & a quick how-to.
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Old 08-16-2005, 10:32 AM   #14 (permalink)
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Catdaddy33
Mmmmk, I found out the explorer.exe has the files locked and I cannot stop that process and delete the prog. Safe mode doesnt work either...
Okay, what do you mean by "I cannot stop that process and delete the prog?" What process can you not stop?

You should be able to launch the "Command Prompt" program, kill the explorer process, delete the file, and then re-launch explorer. As can be evidenced by the thread WindowsXP won't let me delete a file!, explorer likes to read your files, for some reason, and it's buggy so sometimes it still has a lock on them even after it no longer needs them...
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Old 08-17-2005, 04:55 AM   #15 (permalink)
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Is the file on your desktop?

I regularly see that problem with stuff like Norton AV updates where people have saved them to desktop and then run them.

If you have stuff saved there, windows likes to 'read' them when you refresh to desktop when minimizing all open windows. I had to kill the Norton AV service in order to delete it.
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Old 08-17-2005, 10:35 AM   #16 (permalink)
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wow. i might not have exactly the same problem as Catdaddy33, but it's really starting to piss me off. as per my previous post, i downloaded Knoppix 3.9 ( http://www.knoppix.org/ ), burned the iso to a blank CD, and booted my box from that CD. sure enough it mounted my winXP NTFS partition when it booted ... but it mounted it in read-only mode. i unmounted the partition, changed /etc/fstab to mount it in 'rw' mode, and re-mounted the partition ... opened up a shell and navigated to the directory that contains the windows desktop files for my winXP user ... issued a delete and got back 'Operation connot be performed' or some such crap.

checked all file permissions & attributes ... tried again as root ... still no luck. i'm starting to think this is some kind of NTFS directory corruption ... or maybe a physical hard drive problem like a bad sector.

any ideas?
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Old 08-17-2005, 11:05 AM   #17 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KnifeMissile
Okay, what do you mean by "I cannot stop that process and delete the prog?" What process can you not stop?

You should be able to launch the "Command Prompt" program, kill the explorer process, delete the file, and then re-launch explorer. As can be evidenced by the thread WindowsXP won't let me delete a file!, explorer likes to read your files, for some reason, and it's buggy so sometimes it still has a lock on them even after it no longer needs them...
explorer.exe is the application that is "using" the files. When I stop explore then I get a blank desktop...no toolbar or anything...
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Old 08-17-2005, 11:06 AM   #18 (permalink)
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Location: TN
Quote:
Originally Posted by WillyPete
Is the file on your desktop?

I regularly see that problem with stuff like Norton AV updates where people have saved them to desktop and then run them.

If you have stuff saved there, windows likes to 'read' them when you refresh to desktop when minimizing all open windows. I had to kill the Norton AV service in order to delete it.
Yes, its on my desktop and I do have Norton's installed... I'll try this when I get home...
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Old 08-17-2005, 09:36 PM   #19 (permalink)
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Catdaddy33
explorer.exe is the application that is "using" the files. When I stop explore then I get a blank desktop...no toolbar or anything...
Yeah... I expected that, too...

Explorer is your desktop environment. It controls, both, your desktop and the task bar (usually at the bottom of the screen). What a lot of people don't realize is that it's a computer program, no different from any other. So, like any other computer program, you can kill it (its process) and, like any other computer program, you can execute (launch) it.

So, like I was saying before, launch the Command Prompt program (that window that shows a DOS like interface). Kill the explorer process with Task Manager. Yes, you will see your desktop disappear but all your programs (and their windows) will still be wherever you left them. So, go back to your Command Prompt and delete the file. There shouldn't be a lock on it now that you've killed explorer. You can reboot and everything will be back to normal and the offending file should be gone but you don't even have to go that far to get your desktop back. You can simply launch Explorer from the Command Prompt by typing in "explorer.exe" and pressing enter. Notice how this is no different than invoking any other program in Windows, like "del", the very program you used to delete the file!

So, I hope this has helped to demystify your computer.
How did this work out for you?
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Old 08-18-2005, 12:05 PM   #20 (permalink)
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Location: North America
Quote:
Originally Posted by JinnKai
As much as they say it doesn't, XP still runs off DOS. I'd make damn sure it's not a system file (try googling the filename and extension) before you deleted. If its for-sure critical to delete, boot into safe mode. Hit f8 right before windows boots, and select it. It won't start any services, and it'll likely stop whatever program was using the file in the first place.
Your one of those XP still runs on DOS types, what makes you think so? If XP actually did run on dos there wouldn't be so much compatiability issues with old programs. So for the record XP/Win2k/WinNT/Win2003 (all the same family of OS) doesn't run on top of DOS.
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Old 08-19-2005, 03:45 AM   #21 (permalink)
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I havent logged on my computer at home past couple of nights, so I'll try again this weekend.. Thanks for all the input..
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Old 08-19-2005, 07:59 PM   #22 (permalink)
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Going to the Command (DOS) prompt and killing them from there worked! Thanks for the tip, it took me a bit to get the commands down, havent worked in DOS since mid 90s...
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Old 08-24-2005, 06:32 PM   #23 (permalink)
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i just deny any access to anyone from the file via permissions then try to delete it.
you might have to reboot too...

some files, especially those with long names, may need to be deleted thru a dos prompt window.
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